Legacy We Leave Behind
by Lazyoooo
Summary: Razai, the third child of Fire Lord Ozai, struggles to recover from his abuse after being captured during the siege of Ba Sing Se. His journey throughout the world will test his sense of duty and loyalty to his family.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi! This is my first fan fiction! Now, this has gone through over four different revisions as I struggled to find a story that I truly enjoyed writing. I decided to retell and change some events in Avatar: The Last Airbender in a more "Game of Thrones" style. More violence, more lying, more court schemes and ploys. Battles and combat will play a relatively large part and I will do my best to make things interesting. THIS IS AU AND NON-CANON OBVIOUSLY I created Razai as some sort of personality buffer between Zuko and Azula. While they are both Yin And Yang, Razai is what brings them together. Possessing both qualities of light and darkness. (And being a bit more willing to express his less than desirable feelings) Being that this is my first attempt at making a story, things may seem kind of rushed and not as fleshed out but after I finish Book One, I will take more time in writing the story and create more filler content to develop the characters. The next eight chapters are more of a prologue to what is to come, so forgive me if the chapters are a bit short. Rated M for violence, lemons and harsh language. Anyways, enjoy!**

Razai sat cross legged on the roof of the Royal Palace, his eyes shut and his mind empty. Goosebumps sprouted throughout his arms as the air became electrically charged. Razai smirked as he opened his eyes, slowly moving his arms with blue lines of energy tracing behind his fingers. He was happiest when he was generated lightning. Spectators lined the streets of Caldera as they watched the display of Razai's power. After several seconds of fluid motion, he extended two fingers towards the sky, releasing a beautiful but violent array of lightning, splitting in several directions until it eventually dissipated. The citizens then went about their nightly business after the display.

He smiled, pleased with himself as he went back inside the palace and exhaled deeply as the last traces of electricity left his body. The corridors were dimly lit as he moved through the palace towards the throne room. _I'll never have it_ thought Razai in his mind, he thought about that a lot even though he tried to be at peace with it. He entered the massive room, never failing to be amazed at the massive red columns ornate with gold that lined the interior.

He heard muffled footsteps behind him as he entered the Throne Room, staring at the darkened throne.

"Razai" she called, attempting to hide a chuckle as she addressed him. He turned around to address the princess who was garbed in her usual red and gold nightgown.

"What do you want Azula? I'm too tired for games" said Razai, slightly irritable.

She gave him a small smile and approached. "Why are you up at a time like?" she asked while pacing around him, tracing his shoulders while she moved.

"I'm simply concerned for my dear brother" she added with a smirk.

Razai turned away with a scoff.

"Is it quite literally impossible for me to care for my family?" she asked with irritation lapping her words.

"I couldn't sleep" replied Razai quickly, ignoring her question.

"Obviously, but why can't you sleep?" crossing her arms over her chest.

"I'm just restless, there is no particular reason why I can't sleep" lied Razai.

"Maybe you should cry, it has helped Zuko many times in the past" said Azula, laughing.

Razai looked at her trying to disguise his amusement before pushing past her towards his room. Any other day he would have laughed but he was in a particularly foul mood, and even he didn't know why.

Razai collapsed in his bed, staring at the canopy until he finally passed into a very restless sleep.

 _The day was smothered in dark, violent clouds as Zuko played inside the nursery room while his mother gave birth to what would be twins._

 _With every push, flashes of lightning lit of the dark clouds, and it was terrifying to Ursa_

 _'Monsters' she thought in her mind as she finally gave birth, silently sobbing, but not because of the pain._

Razai awoke out of breath and in a pool of sweat, he sat up and saw the bright orange sun peaking over the horizon, flooding his room with beautiful light. _What an unpleasant dream_ he thought to himself as he watched a flock of gulls fly over a fire navy ship docking in the port, releasing a mass of black smoke. He looked at himself in the mirror, by all accounts he looked like his siblings, amber colored eyes and jet black hair but looked _almost_ sister, Azula. He had all of his sister's characteristics but with a more masculine physique. His face was closely shaven and his raven colored hair cascaded behind his head and enveloped his shoulders. His golden eyes eyed himself in the mirror. Unlike his brother, he did not have an overly masculine form to set him apart from his twin sister. He was not particularly frail but he was smaller than Zuko and, like Azula, often looked up to Zuko in order to speak to him. And, like Azula, he didn't need to be tall to be intimidating.

 _Razai and Azula were in the garden practicing firebending forms while they watched Zuko and Ursa sitting next to the turtleduck pond._

 _"Hey, watch this" whispered Azula with a smirk. Razai watched with confusion as she snuck behind Zuko and pushed him into the pond, dying with laughter when she watched Ursa pull him out, Razai joining in._

 _Ursa carried Zuko back to his room, Razai and Azula following behind them. Ursa knew they were following them, but she didn't care, she just cared about comforting Zuko._

 _Razai and Azula watched in jealousy as Ursa sung Zuko to sleep, confused as to why she never did that for them._

Razai rose from the bath and combed his black, shoulder length hair, dressing in dark red robes lined with gold afterwards. He proceeded to the courtyard garden and fed the turtleducks in the pond, he had a routine and it kept him busy. There were many more things he would love to do, not all very pleasant, but he tried to keep his public image fairly good. If he went around doing what he liked no doubt he would be banished or worse. His mind drifted towards his childhood, his lips curled as he day dreamed.

 _Azula and Zuko had finished demonstrating new forms for their father and now it was Razai's turn. He smiled to himself as he got up from his cross legged position and carried himself towards the dueling area with a certain swagger. He loved to show off, he loved attention, whether it was good or bad it didn't matter, he wanted attention. He smiled at his father and bowed dramatically towards his father, his long hair almost touched the ground but he made sure it didn't. "To my most illustrious father, I dedicate this performance to you," he said proudly. His father glared unemotionally and waved his hand for his son to proceed. Razai breathed deeply, not moving for several moments. He jabbed into the air in quick succession, sending several bolts of fire into the air which dissipated afterwards. He followed up with three kicks, each going higher than the other and finally ended it with a boost into the air using fire then smashing into the ground, sending a wave of fire outward from his fist. Razai breathed heavily, he hadn't actually practiced for the performance before, he believed if you were good at something, it should come naturally; practice was for peasants and he had no reason to believe otherwise yet._

 _Ozai smirked when his son finished his display. "Most impressive my son, did you practice this beforehand?" the fire prince asked inquisitively. "Of course not, practice is for peasants, I am good naturally," said Razai, bowing once more. Ozai raised an eyebrow at the statement. This would not do. His son and daughter were prodigies no doubt but he cannot keep believing practice is for lesser men. "You are wrong, my son." said Ozai curtly. Razai looked at him, slightly bewildered. "What?" he said. "You are talented no doubt, my son but practice is the only way to truly master your forms. Your presentation was impressive but you lack finesse, you showed brute force and creativity but not the grace that firebenders should show."_

 _Razai considered his words then bowed once more. "You may go, my children," said Ozai. The royals left the dueling room one after the other. Razai pondered Ozai's words._

Razai awoke again from his meditative state, his stomach growled and vibrated.

He took a palanquin from the palace and stopped at a resturaunt. A middle aged man with a fairly large belly and bald head fell to his knees and began his praises before taking him to an isolated table behind a red curtain. There the fire prince ate in silence, his royal guards standing on either side of the entrance outside the room. Zhao had recently been reported dead, he still remembered the feigned concern and gasps from the meeting and couldn't help but smirk. He had taken over a hundred ships to the Northern Water Tribe and lost over a third of those ships though he couldn't really blame that on Zhao himself. This Avatar has become a severe nuisance, no, more than a nuisance. If he could destroy an entire fleet of Fire Navy warships he was a true threat. But with Zhao dead, new possibilities opened up in his career. Azula, despite being female, was now the Crown Princess and unless something happened to her, Razai remained the third son and not a viable heir. But that was okay, Razai prefered being out and about, being locked up in a palace was not what he had wanted. He was interrupted when the curtain was pushed to the side. He raised his hand automatically, readying himself to strike whoever had entered without announcement but saw two golden eyes staring at him with amusement.

"Oh, Azula," said Razai before he brought his hand back to his side, lowering himself back to his seat. She was dressed in a simple red and black robe, normally she wore armor but not today. Her hair was tied up in a top knot and two strains of black hair fell down on either side of her head, framing her face. Her lips were coated in a red lipstick and her face glowed palely. "Please, sit with me," he said, gesturing towards the opposite seat. He whistled and his guards appeared before him. "Wait outside," he said, they bowed then hastily made their way past the curtains and outside the restaurant. "Please, eat," he said, pushing his remains towards his sister who was eyeing him carefully. "16 years I have been your brother and you still look for falseness in me," said Razai, smiling. Azula lifted her brow and began to eat his remaining food. She sat up straight with her elbows at her side eating quietly until she swallowed; her etiquette was elite. "Think of it as a habit, dear brother. Do not take offense," she said, smiling now. "What do you wish to discuss?" said Razai, looking at his sister. Azula performed a faux sigh and frowned, "Brother, can I not simply break my fast with you? I do not always have an ulterior motive,"

"You are Azula are you not? The most deceptive and cunning child of the Magnificent Fire Lord Ozai?" he said dramatically. "Oh I believe Magnificent is your title brother, I prefer The Conqueror" she said while she sipped steaming tea. Razai chuckled to himself. "I don't believe you have done much in terms of conquering besides your twin brother's bed chamber, dear sister." For a rare moment, her composure broke and she reached across the table and slapped Razai, a glowing red handprint left itself on his cheek. He smirked and wiped his mouth, blood trailing along the top of his hand. "Is that any way to treat family, sister?" he asked sardonically. She stood up and walked from the room, Razai following her. The restaurant was still active, completely unaware of the events that transpired in the private chamber. "We'll talk at the Palace," said Azula sternly before she stepped into her palanquin. Razai trailed after he in his own until they reached the palace steps.

"Now what was that slap about? I've been meaning to ask." Razai walked beside Azula as they approached his room. She entered silently, Razai following her. He turned and closed the door. At once her stern facade broke and she resembled something of a chastising mother. "I can't truly believe you said such a thing in public, Razai!" she said. Razai chuckled and collapsed on a red leather couch, spreading his arms out. "Sister you worry too much, the restaurant was filled to the brim, full of different voices. No one could have heard me," said Razai, smiling. "And if they had?" she said impatiently, hands on her hips. "I would insure they wouldn't be able to relay the tale," he said. She began to relax and approached, sitting down beside him. She smirked and trailed her hand along his thigh.

"What would you have done to them my dear, sweet, _brother_?" she purred, putting emphases on the word brother. Incest, while considered taboo by modern standards, was not an uncommon practice 300 years past. While it had died out, it had been performed in the pretense of 'keeping the bloodlines pure." To Razai and Azula, it hadn't meant any of that, he knew it was forbidden but to them, it made their affair all the more arousing. "What have had me do, sweet sister?" he replied while he stroked her chin. Her golden eyes narrowed and her blood red lips curled. "Drag him to a cell and beat him," she said enthusiastically. This was a hobby and a fetish for them, nothing got to them like talking of torture. "What then, sweet sister?" he said as he began to lower her robe by her shoulders. She smiled sadistically. "Hang him up by his feet and drag a knife across his stomach, let his entrails hang," she whispered in his ears. He exhaled as he felt her hand grope his groin. They grew entranced and continued to growl their fantasies to each other, slowly stripping themselves of clothing until he heard the door open. Azula yelped but Razai remained composed. He sat up and approached the servant who was trembling.

He smiled warmly then put his hand on the servant's shoulder. "You need not fear me. What do you need?" said Razai. "The uh, Fire Lord, uh, has r-request your p-presence immediately" The servant stuttered as he spoke, clearly terrified of the young prince. Razai smiled warmly, the slave continued to smile even after his head slid from his shoulders, plopping onto the floor, the body crumpling down shortly afterwards. Razai eyed his dagger curiously. A black, dragon shaped hilt with a jet black blade coming out and curving rightward. He wiped the blood covered blade on the servant's body, smiling slightly still. He eyed his sister who had been surprised at first but only glared disapprovingly. "Just, get ready or something while I clean this up, I'll try to hurry," he said as he dragged the body further into his room out of sight. Azula continued to stare at him, frowning. Razai couldn't help but laugh. "No one need ever know, sweet sister."

The Throne Room was uncomfortably warm when Razai and Azula entered. The Fire Lord sat behind a wall of flame which reflected itself upon the marble floor. Ornate columns stretched towards the ceiling as they approached their father. They both lowered to their knees and bowed, waiting for him to speak. Ozai studied them for a while, they were identical twins, in looks and personality and this pleased Ozai. "You may rise," spoke the Fire Lord. When they both looked upon him he could almost not tell them apart until he saw their hair. Azula had a top knot with two bangs framing her face. Razai also had a top knot but had a large amount of hair that drooped below his shoulders.

"As you know, Zhao is dead. His siege on the Northern Water Tribe was an utter failure, one of the worst defeats we have suffered in possibly our entire history," said Ozai with menace. "And how lucky he is to have died there. No fate could have been worse if he would have returned. Regardless, we have more pressing matters to discuss." Ozai paused as he observed his children with a certain level of pride. He had heard of their cruel tendencies and he was elated to have discovered Razai's, and even Azula's lust for battle. "Your uncle Iroh is a traitor, and your brother Zuko a failure… I have a task for you, my children." Both Razai and Zuko smiled at his words, they had both longed for a mission as important as one from father. "With the Avatar leaving the Northern Water Tribe as my spies have reported to me, the most logical conclusion is that he is now taking his trek into the Earth Kingdom to find an earthbending teacher which would obviously lead him to the city of Ba Sing Se. With Zhao dead we are in need of a new commander." Ozai paused and directed his gaze at Razai. "My son, you are 16, a man now, and you will lead the Fire Nation to victory in your campaign againsts Ba Sing Se." Razai flooded with pride and happiness at his father's words. Long had he wanted to fight on the front line and now he would; as a general.

"My daughter, Azula. You will track and capture Zuko and Iroh, and, if possible, the Avatar should your paths ever cross. Though I would prefer you to focus on Zuko, the importance in either option is up to you. You will both have unlimited access to resources of the Fire Nation, whether it be naval, logistical, or manpower. I am putting much trust into you both, I know you will not disappoint me." His voice had gotten dangerously low. They bowed and left.


	2. Chapter 2

Three days had passed since Razai and Azula had their discussion with father. Azula left a day before and Razai was boarding his flagship, _The_ _Debauchery_. He could not help but marvel at his ship, it was most unlike other Fire Navy vessels, even from his sister's own prized ship. It was almost the size of the Royal Palace. The deck was wide enough for three trebuchets to be lined up in a row towards the bow while towards the center of the ship, two trebuchets were positioned next to each other on either side of the palace-like command tower. Hundreds of small, window-like slits lined the charcoal colored hull, allowing a soldier to shoot blasts of fire out. The prow of the ship was fashioned like a wave of blood, colored a dull red with torrents of ornate metal that jutted out haphazardly and at the top of the prow, the head of a dragon with a small tube that it held in its mouth. Razai believed in the power of intimidation, few vessels or coastal towns would fight this behemoth without being coerced by either a brave or foolhardy commander and even then, nothing could stop it.

Towards the stern of the ship, two massive, steam powered paddles creaked idly. While the ship had an engine of its own, if needed, the paddles could provide an already fast navy ship with an even faster speed boost. As he left the gangplank separating the ship from the pier, over a hundred soldiers lined in unison bowed to him. He smirked as he approached the pagoda styled command tower. It was a brilliant mixture of dark red tiled roofs lined with gold that reached towards the sky. It was almost like he was an ant compared to the size of the ship. Almost. He retired to his room before the ship set sail for the Earth Kingdom coastal settlement of Yir Gao. He smiled to himself, he would enjoy burning it to the ground. He undressed and fell into his bed, falling asleep shortly afterward.

Razai awoke to the sound of someone banging on his door, the sharp shrill of the metal punctured his ears. "Prince Razai, we have docked next to Princess Azula's barge and she is requesting an audience with you." Razai nodded and gestured for the crewman to leave. Still groggy, he wrapped himself in a red undershirt, then secured a heavy leather vest around himself, then secured a black and red metal vest traced with red and gold. He then fitted his feet intro black and boots that came up to his calves, dressing in a style which was crossed between militaristic and royalty. He went to his mirror and combed his hair. He fixed his topknot then put a fitted his golden fire nation hairpiece on top. He left his room then proceeded downstairs. He opened the hatch to the deck and was greeted with a cool blast of sea-salted air. He enjoyed it oddly enough.

Azula's ship, though large in itself, was dwarfed by _The Debauchery_ , so much so that Razai had failed to notice it until he saw the familiar pagoda-esque strutting over the side of his ship. He chuckled when he saw his sister staring up at him, frowning. "Would you rather come to my ship or me yours?" he said laughing, she was not. He sighed then proceeded below deck to find a similar hatch, meant to provide a means to board smaller fire nation ships. He stepped out of the hatch and walked across the gangplank if a bit warily, the water churned with foam below him. "We will talk in my quarters," she said before she walked inside. He followed her and was greeted by the smell of incense and the dim lighting of the corridor. He followed her into her room to which she closed the hatch. She exhaled and prepared two cups of tea. "I lost Zuko," she said abruptly. "It has only been the fourth day of our mission, dear sister. He will be found," Razai said, putting a hand on her shoulder. They sat there and drank silently for a few minutes before she continued. "I believe he is going to Ba Sing Se to capture the Avatar." Razai raised a brow at her comment. "Though he can be a fool I will not doubt his determination, I am impressed," Razai spoke before he raised the teacup to his lips. "Will you join with me on my campaign then, sister?" he asked. She started at her cup thoughtfully. "I suppose so, there aren't many options to choose from, at least so far," she said as she drank her tea.

"I recruited Mai from New Ozai after I had stopped there for a bit of business regarding the Avatar," she said. "Mai? Oh wait, I remember her, the dark haired, gloomy girl?" Razai asked. In truth, he wasn't very well acquainted with his sister's friends. There was no need to be, he had only really enjoyed his sibling's company. "Yes, I have plans to get Ty Lee as well when we enter the Earth Kingdom, I assume we will be entering from the colonies?" she asked. "No, we will be entering through Yir Gao, on the coast. I will take the city then establish a supply route from the colonies in preparation for my siege on Ba Sing Se," said Razai. "That's quite a bold move, though I'm sure with that monstrosity out there you will have no problems. What did you call it, _The Debauchery_?" she said, chuckling. Razai smirked, "She is the siegebreaker, I have no intention on entering the city until the rest of my fleet arrives. Until then, I'll just have to toss fire at them," he said, adding feigned pouts at the end of his sentence.

A knock on the metal door alerted him to a presence. Azula sat up and opened the door, revealing a crewman. "My Princess, I was told to inform Prince Razai that a detachment of Fire Navy cruisers are approaching, we are a day's sail away from Yir Gao." Azula nodded, the crewman leaving shortly afterwards. "Sooner than I expected. I will not pretend to conceal my excitement for this, sister," said Razai, smiling to himself. "I suppose I should be going, You will trail behind me on the way to Yir Gao, we will discuss our plans when we arrive," he bowed but was interrupted when Azula gripped him by the neck and planted a passionate kiss on his lips. Her tongue pushed its way into his mouth and he wrapped his arms around his sister. His heart couldn't help but speed up. He had been with this girl far more times than he could count yet it always felt like the first time. He allowed the kiss to linger before he parted himself with her. He smiled then left her quarters, returning to his flagship.

The bellow of it's horn vibrated the ship as it began to lurch forward, black smoke poured from the smoke stack. Azula's ship, followed by five other Fire Navy cruisers trailed after _The Debauchery_ , on their way to Yir Gao.

Razai awoke to the sound of his ship's guttural warhorn. It was intimidating, even to him. The sound of an amplified voice called into his room through a series of pipes on the roof, "We have arrived at Yir Gao, all soldiers are to report to the war-bay immediately!" Razai smiled. Here he was, the first to ever occupy Yir Gao since Chin the Conqueror, and even then, he truly didn't care. His eyes were on the Earth Kingdom capital. He would shorten this siege as much as he could to secure the supply lines if he wanted a chance at even starting the siege of Ba Sing Se. He secured his usual garments, instead of his usual black and red plate, he wore a far more extravagant armor. The plate had been polished so intently that it shone brightly even in dim lighting and created perfect reflections of all it saw as he secured it around his torso. It was lined with dark rubies that ran down his stomach and dropped off into a covering similar to a loin cloth, but armored. He pulled black leather breeches onto himself outfitted with black plate that covered his thighs, kneecaps and calves. He then secured black plate boots that clanked as he walked then finally retrieved two items from a chest.

He first pulled out an almost pitch black sword. The hilt was fashioned in the shape of a dragon with red rubies for eyes. The dragon seemed to vomit the dark blade when it rose out of its mouth, reflecting the light and creating a painful glare to any that looked at it. He next pulled out what seemed to be a fairly thin disk but when adjusted to the proper angle, revealed itself to be an obsessively polished, rounded shield. It was embroidered with a dark red Fire Nation sigil with rubies that outlined it. He was dressed beautifully for battle and as much as he wanted to firebend, he would not deny himself the pleasure of cutting open flesh and bashing in heads. He left his quarters and found himself on the deck of his ship, looking at the fairly large coastal fortress that had risen the alarm at the sight of the small invasion force. _The Debauchery_ stood at the forefront of all the ships, his sister's slightly beside and behind him while the rest of the cruisers were lined up in perfect unison behind both of them.

The city had shining white walls with battlements lined up evenly every 50 feets. Behind the wall spiraling white towers reached towards the sky, In the center of the wall, a large river poured into the ocean which lead to the governor's palace itself which in itself was spectacular. It had three towards built upon a rectangular structure, the center tower being the tallest and most extravagant. Reaching to the top of the tower a massive green banner floated against the wind peacefully with the Earth Kingdom emblem in bright yellow. Most of the city itself was shielded from sight due to the walls but Razai knew it would burn like any other city.

He made a hand gesture to the captain who then ran to the bridge of the ship. The warhorn blew once more, it resonated with malice, the metal seeming to vibrate and shriek as it called out for blood. He heard the sound of metal hitting metal then a shrill screech, followed by the fizzing of a fireball that flew overhead, smoke trailing behind it. The first one struck true, smashing a battlement to pieces. A barrage of fireballs followed, from his own ship and the rest of his fleet. In perfect unison, the trebuchets flung their flaming package towards the city, all slamming against the wall. Unsurprisingly, the wall held firm. He awaited a few more barrages before he demanded the arc be adjusted. The trebuchets adjusted themselves, curving on its axis, letting it sink slightly into the deck in order for further range. The trebuchets once again let their fireballs fly, now they landed past the wall and into the city. The sounds of screaming and terror filled him with pleasure. He awaited a few more bombardments until he commanded to lead the first assault. His ship lurched forward, follow by his sister's, then they other cruisers. In sync, all of their ships aligned with the wall. Hundreds of men had gathered on the deck of the ship, non-benders formed up at the front, carrying long pikes while men awaited behind them, carrying massive shields which were much wider and taller than an average man. Behind them were swordsman, carrying steel blades and shields and then behind them were the firebenders. Though not an entirely rare commodity, he wanted to keep them in the back of the formation, as a means to break the Earth Benders. Razai whistled and two dozen men made their way through the compliment of troops. Their extravagant armor shined almost as much as Razai's and they also carried shields which reflected everything it faced. He had been eager to use his so called "Mirror Guard" for quite some time, he wanted his enemies to see their own face before they died.

Razai smiled when he looked to his left, seeing his sister preparing her own landing force as well. He awaited the ram to lower itself to allow his departure and saw a force of non-bending Earth Kingdom militiamen. He couldn't help but laugh to himself, his heart rate increased when he heard the screech of metal, signaling the lower of the ram. Instead of running forward to meet battle, he sent forth his pikemen. In perfect unison, they lowered their pikes to face the confused militiamen, the poor fools had no idea his intent. Once more in unison, the pikemen moved forward step by step, making sure no one got ahead of one another. At least 20 men could move side by side as they proceeded down the ramp, towards the militia. Their boots and chants were intimidating on their own, the smashing of metal on metal and the unified "Huahs!" were truly awe inspiring.

As they grew closer to the poorly armed group, they began to back away, terrified of this largely unknown tactic. One foolish peasant charged towards the phalanx, only to impale himself on at least three spears. He simply fell beneath the weapons and was consumed by the approaching mass of soldiers. Many peasants chose to jump to their deaths but many tried to surround the phalanx, only to be greeted by the large shields on the pikeman's flanks. Despite their best attempts, the tank of men moved forward, eventually splitting in two which moved down either side of the wall. Razai moved forward with his Mirror Guard, stepping over trampled and bloodied bodies. He glanced over to see Azula watching him as if he was a deity, she was entranced by his tactic. The pikemen began to clear the walls and made way for the firebenders and swordsmen who were much less organized and simply ran down the ramp and onto the wall. He looked down from the wall and saw a massing of troops, the actual soldiers. They were armed in heavy plate and wielded longswords, iron kanabos, spears and other weaponry. While he had no doubt at the performance of his men he would prefer to avoid extensive conflicts, despite his growing bloodlust. He signaled with a wave of his hand and yelled for his men to clear out of the path of his flagship. The ramp receded back into the aft of the ship. The dragon's eyes began to glow as the boiler concealed within the ship began to pump a thick, orange tinted liquid towards the dragon's mouth.

A single jet of fire flared up underneath the dragon's lip as the liquid grew closer to its mouth. The liquid burst from the dragon's mouth and caught fire, yet the liquid did not evaporate. It flung itself over the wall and down onto the troops massing in the courtyard below. The screams were ear peircing sure enough. Despite not being able to see them, he could practically see their flesh dropping from the bone, the scent of burnt flesh filled the air.

Azula was astounded, never before had she seen this contraption or witnessed the use of a spear wall in combat before, she hadn't expected it at all. The wall had already been taken and none of the other ship's troops had even stepped onto the wall, too entranced by Razai's tactical display.

After several long minutes, the majority of the Earth Kingdom garrison fell further back into the courtyard, away from the napalm's radius. "Men, at my back!" Razai shouted. His Mirror Guard stayed behind him and was joined by the rest of his force. They poured into the small tower which led them to the courtyard. There, they reformed their formation, awaiting the rest of the invasion force. Razai lined up with his Mirror Guard with his swordsmen behind him. The pikemen stood in unison behind them, lining the wall. He soon found himself next to his sister who had joined her force with his. He took a few steps forward and raised his sword. He let out a beastial roar which expunged fire from his mouth, it even frightened his own men, but not his Mirror Guard. He charged forward, getting a head start from his Mirror Guard and Azula and found himself pushing his way into a mass of Earth Kingdom soldiers who had yet to organize. He felt warm blood splash against his face as his sword cut through an exposed neck. A particularly rowdy soldier screamed and proceeded to stab at him. He knock the blade from the boy's hand then bashed his face in with his shield. With a sickening _crunch_ , teeth, blood and shattered bone fell from the broken face and dripped onto the ground, the body crumpled down a moment later. At this moment he heard the sounds of battle, steel on steel and war cries. He felt the heat of Azula's firebending when she plunged herself into a group of soldiers. Seared flesh fell to the ground and the painful screams of her victims filled the air. Razai found himself consumed in a bloodlust as more and more fell to his blade, his Mirror Guard staying closely by him to ensure no ambitious enemy take advantage of his carelessness.

Razai was distracted as he heard unified steps march quickly around them. Everyone, even the enemy men looked around in bewilderment to see the pikemen entrapping them in a circle of shields. With a metallic _clank_ , the pikemen lowered their black shields, becoming a man made fortress. Razai started to laugh as he saw the fire nation sigil taunting all of them. "This is where you die!" he yelled. He and his men retreated behind the shields. Razai himself took a pike and held onto it. He would participate in this execution. After a prolonged silence, he yelled "Pikemen, advance!" He was answered by a unified march towards the trapped crowd of soldiers, a rhythmic chant of masculine voices cried in unity. "Huah! Huah! Huah!" they would chant as they grew closer to their targets, their pikes preceding them with every step. Razai felt himself joining in, he felt like a soldier. Not royalty, not like a general, but a soldier, and he loved it. As they felt the tips of their pikes nudge against the enemy, they drew back their weapons like small battering rams then drove them forward, the sounds of cut flesh and blood gargled screams greeted them.

Azula watched in fascination as the circle of pikemen grew smaller, eventually their spears would meet, with the enemy in the middle. She watched in worship at Razai who himself had taken up a spear and now shouted in unison with his men as they drew closer to the Earth Kingdom garrison. They would die like pigs, slaughtered without choice.

As the task proved to be more arduous, the pikemen and Razai himself felt the need to inhale and exhale as they heaved their spears, cutting deep into the mass of flesh and steel. After several minutes, they found nothing left to cut down, their spears simply kneaded the air after their foe had been obliterated. The shield wall disassembled and Razai came to observe the bloodshed in front of him. The corpses were on top of each other in a disgusting hill of flesh. Yet, in the pile of the dead he saw the flicker of movements as a man attempted to climb from underneath his dead comrades. Razai had his Mirror Guard bring the survivor him. Razai smiled as the soldier watched in a daze. He lifted to fingers, blue fire flaring up like a torch. He dragged the knife of fire through his neck, allowing the head to fall to the ground. He smirked and returned to _The Debauchery_.

Razai looked at his reflection in the mirror; he looked disgusting. Blood covered his entire body from head to toe and blood clotted up in his disheveled hair. He took off his armor and slipped into a bath, feeling the exhaustion hit after he relaxed. He eventually fell asleep, his mind wandered.


	3. Chapter 3

_Azula's whole body shuddered with every sob that escaped her throat as she lay in bed. Tears slid down her pale white cheeks, she kept the sobs in but every now and then but inevitably a burp or hiccup would escape her mouth. She turned to face Razai watching her from across the room, his golden eyes glowed in the dark much like her's would.. Azula turned over so he wouldn't see her cry, she didn't want anyone to see her cry._

 _Razai's eyes adjusted to the darkness of her room, her outline under her bed covers shook as she kept her sobs in, but he knew she was upset. "What's wrong?" whispered Razai, his face was struck with concern when she turned around, her face was red and wet from tears as she finally relented and started to cry. Razai jumped from his bed and ran to Azula, sitting down beside her on her bed and stroked her hair. "Please tell me what's the matter…" said Razai as he looked down on his twin. "W-we w-were practicing firebending in c-class today a-and I b-beat all the other g-girls in sparring a-and when I w-went to the bathroom…" her sentence was interrupted by more crying, he pulled her up and wrapped his arms around her, she rested her chin on his shoulder and he continued to stroke her black hair. Razai sat there for a few minutes just rubbing her head until she decided to continue, her sobs stopped as she recounted her day. "After the duel I went to the bathroom to clean myself up._

" _I heard the other girls talking and I sat there and listened, they made fun of me, they said I was ugly and a show off," she broke back into sobs and Razai hugged her tighter. "Look at me," said Razai as he lifted her head up by her chin. "You are the most amazing and beautiful girl in the world, don't let anyone tell you otherwise." His little sister wiped her eyes, and, despite her crying, blushed at his words. "What do you think is pretty about me?" said Azula slowly. Razai thoughtfully came up with several reasons and spoke hesitantly. "Your skin is creamy and flawless, your hair is softer than silk, and I think anyone, including me, could get lost in your beautiful gold eyes" said Razai. "Mother called me a monster…" said Azula quietly. "Stop, you're not a monster, you're anything but a monster," said Razai seriously, he stared deep into eyes while he ran his fingers soothingly through her hair. "And even if you were one, monsters can be beautiful" said Razai intently. Azula's tears dried and her cheeks remained red as she continued to talk to her brother. He sat there for a few hours, talking to her and holding her. "It's midnight, I have to sleep, will you be okay?" said Razai as he got up. "I guess…" Azula said, looking down. Razai grabbed her by the shoulders and made sure she was looking at him. "Listen to me, you are NOT a monster, do you hear?" Razai said firmly. Azula felt like crying again, but not because of sadness, she had never been spoken to like this by anyone, not even by mother, though she never gave her a chance to really speak to her regardless. Razai attempted to get up but Azula's grip on his hand was still firm. "Sleep in my bed tonight please…" said Azula quietly._

 _Razai hesitated but finally dropped down next to his sister and laid next to her. He was uncomfortable. His body betrayed his mind and he felt sick. The heat coming off of Azula was entrancing. Her smell captivated him, she smelt of fresh oils and lotions. After a while, he found himself fighting sleep, his eyelids grew heavy and he finally relented, allowing himself to fall asleep._

Razai awoke slowly, seeing a single feminine figure leaning against the wall staring at him, smirking. "Dear brother, you do know it's dangerous to fall asleep in a bathtub," she said, amused. Razai suddenly became aware of how cold the water had become. "How long has it been?" he asked, stepping out of the bath. "At least four hours, the rest of the men have moved up the city and are waiting outside the governor's palace, though I'm sure they were disappointed to find out you wouldn't be joining them," she said while she eyed her brother's naked body. "I assume you mentioned there would be Earth Benders at the palace?" Azula smiled. "I did, they will not enter until you arrive." She feigned and yawn and lowered her eyes, addressing the tub he sat in.

"I figured you would need rest and a bath before you fucked your sister" she said as she sauntered sensually towards him, swaying her hips seductively. He felt his groin stiffen almost instantly as he eyed her. She had her hair down behind her shoulders and was wearing a simple red robe lined with gold that ended at her calves.

"Would you share a bath with me, sweet sister?" he always liked to regard their blood relationship, it made their affair all the more exciting and wrong. "As much as I would like to we don't have much time," she said nonchalantly while she disrobed, revealing her perfect figure. The first thing he noticed were her perfectly shaped breasts; medium sized teardrops that bounced as she took her steps. Small nipples surrounded by dark skin peaked in the center; he suddenly realized how cold it was in the room. He looked further downward to see her fairly toned but still feminine abs that lead to her fairly wide hips and thick thighs. All form of self control was lost when he sighted her womanhood, cleanly shaven with slick, pulsating lips. He bounded towards her, grabbing her by the neck and began to practically devour her mouth. His tongue force its way into her mouth while her's fought for dominance. She wrapped her arms around around his back and gritted her teeth when she felt his length shove its way into her core. Her nails dug into his skin, blood began to trail down his back, driving him to pump further. It was violent, angry sex brought on by bloodlust. She was his treasure, his loot after combat. She shoved her against the cold, metal wall and bit into her neck. Her slick walls were parted with each pump of his sex, he began to feel his innards fight their way up to the exit of his organ, fueling him further. He didn't care whether she felt pleasure or not, they had days where they cared about each other's experience and days where they were just each other's tools. He felt himself burst inside her, the seed shot its way into her womb, he felt bliss afterwards, he was truly happy when he was inside her. She was his other half, they came into the world seconds apart and he only ever felt complete when he was inside her. His breath was heavy and his chest heaved as he caught his breath.

She felt his seed ooze inside of her, it felt warm. She was in a fantasy world in which only they existed. Ozai didn't exist, neither did Zuko or Uncle or Ursa, just her and Razai. He hesitated but let Azula go and felt his flaccid member slick out of her sex, seed dribbled onto the floor. After several silent moments, Razai asked, "You drank the tea, right?" Azula smirked and walked over to the bath with a little difficulty, her womanhood ached slightly with every step. He wasn't always rough, but she loved it when he was. "What, would you rather not have a little beast growing inside me, brother?" He scowled and put on a dark red undershirt along with black breeches, followed by a gold trimmed robe. "I'm going to the palace, I hope you reminded them to leave the governor and his little servants alive." She laughed and placed a kiss on his neck. "Of course I did, sweet brother." He left the room while his sister sank into a bath to clean.

When he left his flagship, smoke was bellowing into the sky from fires and the air stank heavily of flesh. Piles of corpses burned while several surviving soldiers were put into herds for the Boiling Rock. He sent for four Mirror Guardsmen who walked adjacent to him, two in the front and four in the back. Their black, dragon shaped helms gleamed in the blood red sunlight. His Mirror Guard were firebenders, but like Razai, preferred to use weaponry, it felt all the more rewarding in combat. As he made his way towards the governor's palace, he found shops and other buildings collapsing by komodo-rhinos which pulled them down with steel cables. He ignored the wails of women and children as he made his way to the severely damaged palace. He made his way to the door and attempted to push it open but it refused to budge. In a gust of blue flames, he shattered the door with a punch and went inside, seeing the almost untouched interior. "I suppose I am the first to enter?" he directed towards one of his guards. "The Princess instructed the men not to enter until you did," said the muffled voice of his guard. Oh yes, he remembered now. Soldiers flooded into the palace in two columns and awaited orders. "Round up anyone found inside and bring them here. Bind and gag them," Razai said as he took a seat on a high table. It was bright white marble lined with six other chairs, no doubt for other officials.

Azula, followed by her own guard, entered the palace to find seven men tied up by their hands, forced down onto their knees with cloth gagging them. Razai smiled when he saw his sister enter the courtroom. "Ah, sister, so glad you could make it, I was just telling these fine men of their fates!" he said as he gestured for her to sit beside him. She smiled evilly as she took her seat next to him and ran her hand along his thigh, he shivered at the touch. "What did you have planned for them, brother?" Azula asked. Razai rested his chin on his conjoined hands, thoughtfully pondering the ways he would execute them. "I'm not sure yet, if truth be told," he said. Azula dug her nails into his legs. He exhaled, his eyes moved to the back of his head ever so slightly at her touch. "Don't you believe these men would be so much more useful alive rather than dead? They did govern this city fairly well if what I've been told is true," said Azula as she traced her nails along his thigh. Razai raised his head and smiled at the binded men, he focused on a particularly fat one. His face was bright red and sweat trickled down his thick neck and onto the marble floor. "You hear that, Qi? My sister is imploring me to spare your life, of course I can ignore her entirely and do what I will with you but what kind of brother would I be to ignore my family's advice?" Razai couldn't help but chuckle. "Now, what would you have to offer me?" he asked, gesturing for a guard to remove the cloth from his mouth. "I-I could serve the F-Fire Na-Nation, I've always looked up to y-your father, I-I could co-co-continue to govern for you!" he stuttered as he spoke, reeking with fear. Razai smirked at his flattery. "No, I'm afraid not, you are useless here...I suppose I could bring you with me to Ba Sing Se, you could rule in my stead after I occupy it…" Qi nodded furiously at the prospect, he wanted to stay alive. His partners however glared daggers at his cowardice, Razai took note. The Fire Prince stood up enthusiastically, spreading his hands. "Then it is settled, I welcome your employment to me, my friend! Guards, please take Qi to my ship and give him the most luxurious cabin you can find!" The guards unbound Qi, who had fallen forward in a blunder, his fat jiggled as he brought himself to his feet. He was dressed in a brilliant white and green robe with outlines of gold, the Earth Kingdom emblem was sewn onto his chest. Qi smirked at his previous allies and was led out of the palace. The guards brought the remaining prisoners outside and made ready to move them with the force that would attack Ba Sing Se.

The sun had just sank below the horizon while Azula and Razai ate in their quarters, discussing politics and other matters when the sharp _tang_ of metal alerted them to someone outside. Razai got up and opened the door to see a soldier. "Sir, we are sorry to disturb your supper but we have had word that the Avatar is up river with his bison and companions." Razai's lips curled and sent the soldier away, closing the door. "Sister, it would seem that we are lucky, the Avatar has no idea of the occupation. We shall set out with a tank train tomorrow morning and pursue them," said Razai as he sipped tea. Azula thoughtfully twirled a spoon in her cup. "I will bring Mai and Ty Lee along, they have quite the band of misfits from what I've heard, we will need their help." Razai smiled as he finished his dinner. He made for the door when he felt Azula's nails drag along his neck, he smiled. "Sister, we are waking early tomorrow, we need our rest." Razai forbade himself of speaking in detail. Azula sighed and allowed him to go.


	4. Chapter 4

The sun hadn't risen above the ocean when he had awoken. Razai moved through the burnt out town center and found his sister and her friends loading the tank train. He had never been on one before as they were fairly recent creations but he had heard good things about them. They were fast, and the speed never faltered unless they were going uphill or on rocky terrain. It was clad in grey steel with a tall pipe that spat steam. The front spiked with two harpoons on either side. A royal cabin was attached to the back with great care to the interior. It was dimmed red with a red and yellow tiled carpet with a pai sho board on a metal table while a red leather couch draped with a silk blanket sat in the back of the cabin. "I hope you like it, brother. I had it furnished specifically for us." The voice came from the doorway behind him to see Azula, Ty Lee and Mai behind her. "It is perfect, sister. And it's nice to see both of you, Mai and Ty Lee. It's been, what, three years?" He asked. Ty Lee rushed forward and embraced Razai. He smirked and allowed his arms to wrap around Ty Lee, watching Azula's annoyed stare. "Okay, Ty Lee, you can stop" she said irritably. Razai smiled at her, a jealous Azula was a more violent one, and he loved her that way. Mai simply smiled and proceeded to sit on the couch. Azula and Ty Lee stepped in and closed the metal hatch, the tank train starting up shortly afterwards. With a sickening lurch, the tank train sped off, out of Yir Gao.

After several dull hours of pursuit, the tank train began to go uphill and eventually slow. The four of them mounted mongoose lizards, disgusting creatures but necessary to traverse the mountain top. They sped along a narrow path towards a large white knob that sat at the top of the path; the Avatar's bison. As they grew nearer they saw four figures ready to attack. Rocks began to shoot upward but the reflexes of the mongoose lizards were quicker. As they grew nearer, a massive wall of earth was erected in front of them, he had prepared his mount to crawl over it but flickers of blue light began to trace Azula's fingers as she spun her arms in a circular motion; hurling a bolt of lightning at the wall. Dust was expunged from the wall, revealing a hole that they could traverse through. The Avatar and his cronies mounted the bison and took off. He hurled a fistful of orange flame at the flying creature which it easily dodged. He and his sister glared dangerously at the fleeing group. They retreated back to the tank train and once again set off in their pursuit.

The machine picked up remarkable speed as they traversed a brown savannah, cutting down tall grass and flowers as they followed the trail of hair that the bison left. Far behind, a single ostrich-horse followed the trail the machine made, two golden eyes eyed the horizon, watching the smoke trail.

After several hours they entered a dense forest, but the tank train simply uprooted and snapped trees as if they were twigs. They finally found a large indention in the soil surrounded by fur; the bison had crashed. "Bundles of hair…" muttered Azula as she studied the fur. Ty Lee eyed it curiously and said, "Not bundles more like…hmm," she said thinking. Mai sighed and said, "Clumps?" Immediately she was embraced by Ty Lee, "Clumps! They're clumps!" Azula ignored both of them and approached Razai who was investigating a separation of the trails, one went upriver the other went downriver. "Mai, Ty Lee, follow that trail, me and Razai will follow this one…" she said as she reared her mount up, following the trail, Razai followed after her.

Soon, the hair trail left the forests and opened up into rocky hill lands. Soon the rock started to turn red and eventually gave way into a desert. The sun had begun to set by the time they reached a small, abandoned village. Window shutters fluttered with the wind and haunting wind chimes gave the air an uneasy atmosphere. Further down the street the encountered a tattoo headed boy meditating in the center of the road. He opened his eyes when he heard their mounts approaching. Both Azula and Razai dismounted and tied their lizards to a wooden post, then approaching the boy. "I assume you are the Avatar?" Razai asked, bored. He sat up and retrieved his staff. "Who are you and why of you been following us?" said the Avatar, defiantly. Azula smiled and examined her nails. "You mean you don't recognise us? Don't see the family resemblance? Well, here's a hint." She cross her hand over her left eye and lowered her voice, mocking their brother, "I must capture the Avatar to restore my honor…" she said. He stood there confused and his eyes fought to stay open, he clearly hadn't been sleeping. She chuckled and lowered her hand. "It's okay, you can laugh, it's funny," she said, wiping one of her bangs out of her eye, it was very windy.

Razai approached carefully, he truly didn't feel like fighting a child, he had had his fill of blood during his occupation of Yir Gao. "I can tell you're exhausted, if you just surrender you won't have to fight and your friends won't be harmed," said Razai as he approached the Avatar, who had just raised his staff in an attacking position. Azula stepped up and raised her hands, preparing to release a torrent of fire. "So what happens now?" said the Avatar, holding his staff to the ready. "Now? Now you'll die, you're tired and have nowhere to go. You can run, but I'll catch you," she said menacingly. The Avatar frowned and held his staff out, ready to attack, "I'm not running," he said. Azula smirked, Razai leaned in and whispered, "I'm sure father would rather want him alive, don't you think so, sister?" She eyed him carefully and nodded. "Do you really want to fight us?" said Azula. All three of them turned at the sound of a door opening. An ostrich-horse bolted from an abandoned house and a teenager wearing filthy green clothing stood, ready to attack. "Back off, he's mine," he said. His voice was unmistakable. He removed his large hat and revealed two golden eyes and an angry red scar. While he didn't show it, Razai was actually quite surprised and in some way, relieved. He hadn't seen Zuko in over three years since his banishment. He looked at Azula and back to his long banished brother. He would take care of Zuko.

They stood there, two on two for several minutes, no one dared move. Sand stung his eyes when a gust of wind struck his face, Zuko took advantage and sent a fistful of flames in his direction. Despite the sand, he easily blocked the attack and sent to balls of orange fire at Zuko. The banished prince blocked both attacks then kicked a wave of flame in all directions, sending everyone back a few feet. He had no intention of hurting Zuko, he just had to get him away from Azula for a few moments. He bolted away from the fight and hoped Zuko would pursue him. Predictably, he did. He ran down an alleyway and vaulted over several broken and decaying crates. He eventually found himself quite some distance away in an abandoned courtyard. A dried up well stood in the center of the courtyard with a string but no bucket hanging from the roof. Zuko finally caught up and found Razai standing still with his arms raised ready to defend himself. "Zuko, listen, I have no intention of hurting you, let us take the Avatar home together, father _will_ forgive you!" Razai spoke. Zuko scoffed at his words, "Do you know what Azula did when she found me and Uncle? She told me how father had suddenly "realized the importance of family and begged for my return," said Zuko, brimming with anger. "And like an idiot, I believed her! She intended to take me and Uncle home as prisoners!" he yelled before sending a ball of flame at Razai. After getting rid of the flames, Razai continued to plead, "I know you're angry, I would be too, but please, just come home with us, you may be without honor but you're still apart of our family. She may not admit it but Azula misses you as well. But there is no other way for you to come home, we'll beg father for you to remain at the palace with us, please, reconsider." Zuko wavered for a few moments, lowering his arms. An old but powerful voice boomed from behind an alley, revealing the rather large, but still powerful, Dragon of the West. "Razai, I know you mean well, but this is not the right path. Zuko must achieve his own destiny, he believes he will regain his honor by capturing the Avatar and I will help him. No one must bring the Avatar home but him," said the old man. He had always like Iroh in some ways but grew weary of his preaching and pacifism.

Razai waited there for several moments. What was he to do? This was a situation he did not want to find himself in. He could let Zuko and Iroh go, and capture them in Ba Sing Se, maybe father would allow them to live in exile, but still in the Fire Nation. No, he knew what he needed to do. He sent a purposefully sloppy ball of fire at Zuko, he angrily blocked it then sent his own blast of fire at Razai, who did not dodge or block it. He felt his skin flare up as the ball of flame slammed into him. The fool never did realize how painful and dangerous fire could be, and, despite the pain, his lips curled into a grin as he fell onto his hands and knees. Boiling, black blood dripped off of his wound and the sand bit into his wound when the wind picked up. Zuko, realizing his mistake lowered his hands and ran to his little brother, Iroh following him. Zuko bent down and examined Razai's wounds. He was panicking. Razai felt irritable as he watched Zuko struggle to find words. "Razai, I- I'm sor- I don't-" Razai grabbed him by his shirt and looked into his eyes, the same identical golden eyes. "I'm giving you a chance, leave, capture the Avatar, I-I don't know, do what you want. Azula won't be so forgiving and you won't get a second chance. Go!" he said, waving them away. Zuko hesitated by Iroh grabbed him by the shoulder. Before leaving Iroh nodded towards Razai who returned the gesture shortly afterwards.

His breathing came ragged and he struggled to inhale. Blackness came creeping from the corners of his vision and the last thing he heard was a dull explosion.

He was awakened by vibrations and metal banging against metal, his ears and head ached as it became louder. He shook his head and his vision slowly returned. He was greeted by a dull grey ceiling. He attempted to sit up but a sharp pain in his stomach forbade him. He turned over to see a pai sho board and Azula sitting on the other side of it, glaring at him. He managed a faint smirk as she got up and walked over to him, sitting down next to the couch he laid on. "The Avatar and Zuko got away," she said simply while looking at his burn. "Yes, uh, our d-dear brother gave me quite the nasty burn as you c-can s-see," Razai said with difficulty. It hurt to even move his head, he did not think he would be able to do much for the next week or so. Azula's brow furrowed as she frowned.

"Zuko is a subpar fire bender and Iroh is an old man, I don't believe that this could have happened to you. You let him burn you," she said dangerously. Razai began to laugh but it quickly turned into a groan of pain when he looked to see Azula's nail digging into his wound. "Why would you let him go, Razai. Tell me," she said impatiently. Razai flinched as fresh blood began to pool up from the angry burn. "D-do you truly hold no l-love for our brother, Azula?" he said painfully. She frowned and lifted her hand from his wound. Razai exhaled, relieved of the pain. "I did it b-because if we-we had brought him home, father would have had h-him killed. I tried to convince myself maybe h-he'd let him live in exile but we both know our father is not a forgiving m-man. He is a man of j-justice and l-lawfulness," said Razai, struggling to get words out. They sat there in silence for a few moments. Razai waited to find more words, his mind was a bit blurry from the constant thumps and bangs of the tank train. He found it much easier to speak after she had poured water into his mouth, helping him drink. "Azula, surely you must want Zuko back home, don't you?" Razai asked quietly.

He put his hand on her own, her skin was cold. She said nothing and stared at the floor for a few minutes, her mind shrouded in thought. The tank train came to an abrupt stop and the cabin door opened a few moments later, revealing a convoy of rhino's and troops. "We are on our way to Ba Sing Se, they have already assembled and delivered the means of which we will use to get inside the city, all we have to do is arrive with the army and the city will be ours," said Azula before she left him on the couch. He was angry at her. They had almost no differences but one way he knew they were different was he wouldn't hesitate or question the love for his family. Maybe she did love Zuko but he honestly doesn't know what goes on in her head. He sighed and laid his head down on the pillow and fell back to sleep, the tank train lurched forward once more and sped towards Ba Sing Se.

The orange sun's light flooded into the abandoned shack that had been occupied by Zuko and his injured uncle. His uncle squirmed in his unconsciousness until he finally opened his eyes with difficulty. "Uncle…you were unconscious, Azula did this to you...it was a surprise attack," Zuko said quietly. Iroh grunted as he lifted himself upright, a sharp pain in his chest forbade him from standing up. "Somehow that is not so surprising," said Iroh as he propped himself against the wall. Zuko handed him a cup of hot tea, it smelled terrible but Iroh would drink it anyway. "I hope I made it the way you like it," he said as Iroh took a sip. The bitterness made his eyes flutter open and he feigned a delicious groan. "Uncle, I'm so sorry what happened to you. I just…I-" started Zuko, but was interrupted when his uncle rested a hand on his shoulder. "You should not be sorry, my nephew. Azula did this, not you," said Iroh reassuringly. Zuko shook his head in response,

"It's my fault regardless. I burned Razai and now I am responsible for what happened to you…" he said while looking at the ground. Iroh made Zuko look at him as he spoke, "Razai knew the risks he was taking when he allowed you to burn him. His love for you gave him the strength to defy his father and do what he did, for that, I will be forever indebted to him. Regardless of their looks and circumstances of birth, Razai and Azula are two very different people," said Iroh thoughtfully. He hadn't been expecting Razai to allow them to escape, and he felt a twinge of guilt when he saw his nephew in pain. "Sometimes I forget that…" Zuko said quietly. Iroh managed to get onto his feet and finished the terrible tea. "Remember, my nephew, despite what she wants you to believe, Azula is not without faults and even Razai knows that. She wasn't strong enough to resists Ozai's influence and it has made her something she is not. I believe Razai will be able to turn her onto the right path in time." Iroh spoke those words carefully. Razai and Azula _were_ two different people but he was all too aware of his nephew's cruel tendencies. From a young age Razai had dreamed of going to war as a general and leading the Fire Nation to victory, and he also knew he would do anything to get what he wanted. Fortunately, he was the lesser of the two evils so to say, unlike Azula, he tended to only unleash his wrath on those who deserved it. His fears lessened the day Razai allowed himself to be beaten, he had never felt prouder of Razai than he did at that moment. "Come Zuko, it is time to resume your training."


	5. Chapter 5

Razai shook in his deep sleep, he was being bombard by memories. Sweat fell from his forehead in gallons while his mind made sense of his dreams.

 _The grass tickled Razai's feet as he walked with his sister through the royal gardens. Tiny insects perched themselves on blades of grass and cicadas blared loudly. His silk-like hair brushed against his lower back, heaving from side to side as he took wide strides, stepping onto stepping stone after stepping stone. He could see the reflective shape of fish swimming deep into the pond, lilypads drifted lazily with the occasional frog lying lazily on the green plant. He actually felt content, that is, until he felt a forceful shove throw him into the pond. The fish and the frog all sped away from his falling mass, creating a loud sploosh that send rippling waves cascading back and forth in the confines of the pond. He swam back up to the surface and climbed out, greeted by Azula's loud and obnoxious laughter. He found himself bounding towards her and tackling her. They fought for several minutes for dominance and a breathless Razai found his sister pinning him down. Her golden eyes glowed in the sunlight and the two bangs that framed her face tickled his cheeks lightly as her chest heaved. Her rose-red lips looked slightly engorged and her dark eyeliner looked divine in comparison to her creamy, flawless skin._

 _They found themselves staring at each other for quite some time before the sound of their mother drew them from their fantasy. They both came to their feet and ran for their mother who was standing in the doorway to the royal living room. "A letter from your Uncle Iroh, from the war front," she said quickly as she opened a small chest containing the letters and three items he could not see. Ursa skimmed through the letter before reciting it to her children, Razai could hear his Uncle's calm but determined voice in his head, "If the city is as magnificent as its wall, Ba Sing Se must be something to behold. I hope you all may see it some day, if we don't burn it to the ground first! Until then, enjoy these gifts: For Zuko, a pearl dagger from the general that had surrendered when we broke through the outer wall. Note the inscription, and the superior craftsmanship. For Razai, a scroll of detailed firebending techniques that had been pillaged from an archive in Yi Que. And for Azula, a new friend. She wears the latest fashion for Earth Kingdom girls. I hope you enjoy your gifts and I will see you soon, with love, Iroh." Zuko had begun to swing the dagger and Razai had opened the scroll, witnessing several detailed and advanced firebending forms, noting one which required the bender to kick both feet into the air and end the barrage with a sweeping kick. Razai felt the heat and hear the sizzle, looking over to see Azula burning her gift. Razai chuckled but quickly quieted when he saw his mom glare at him. Azula fell onto the couch, looking up at the copper colored ceiling, "So, if Uncle doesn't make it back from the war, that means father would be the next in line for the throne, right?" said Azula as she scraped the ashes of the doll off her hand, which in itself resulted in a servant quickly diving to scrape the dust off of the carpet. "Azula, we don't speak that way. It would be awful if Uncle Iroh didn't return. And besides, Firelord Azulon is a picture of health," said Ursa, glaring scornfully at Azula. Razai truly didn't see the problem in talking of things like this, they were just discussing politics like anyone else would. He didn't really want Iroh to die but he did think of the perks that would come with being the Fire Lord's son. Zuko, stopping his practice with the dagger, bounded over to Azula, hands clenched in anger. "How would you like it if cousin Lu Ten wanted father to die?" he said, raising his voice slightly. "I am just saying that father would be a much better father, rather than his royal-tea-loving-kookiness," said Azula scornfully, who gestured for the chuckling Razai to follow her to her room._

Razai sat up in sweat. The pain in his stomach was gone and he looked down to his bandages removed. He was no longer in a tank train but in a small tent. He sat up to see his folded red shirt and pants along with his plated armor and boots. He took some time and dressed himself. His hair was already combed and washed. In fact, he felt very clean, had someone washed him while he slept. He prepared his top knot and for once, allowed his bangs to frame his face. It was feminine no doubt but he didn't care, femininity had its value. He looked exactly like his sister, no one would tell otherwise besides the obvious anatomy of a female.

He left the tent and was almost blinded by sunlight. His eyes ached as they adjusted to the glare. After his vision returned, he found himself in the center of a massive Fire Nation camp, the white walls of Ba Sing Se were almost three miles away, standing proudly. Soldiers marched and sharpened their weapons, tanks moved to and fro while firebenders sparred in a makeshift arena. Smoke from campfires bellowed up from dozens of places, the camp stretched for at least a mile. He looked to see a massive, ornate pavilion and went to see if his sister was there.

He entered the pavilion to see his sister along with several high ranking military figures, he recognised immediately war minister Qin. They were studying a map of Ba Sing Se and were arguing about something regarding civilians. "With all due respect princess, the citizens should be cut down if they stand in our way, if they will not submit we will make the," Qin stated firmly. His sister huffed and glared at the elderly man. "Slaughtering civilians is not what we came to do, there is no Earth Kingdom for us to conquer if we kill their citizens," she said. Razai smirked, perhaps now would be a good time for a surprise. "I believe I have a solution, friends," Razai said. Azula and Qin looked up ready to verbally attacked whoever interrupted but both shut their mouths to see the fire prince joining the conversation. "Brother," she said regally. Razai nodded and turned to face Qin. I have seven select citizens that may die in the place of your slaughter, war minister. I would ask for you to accompany me please," said Razai, gesturing Qin to follow him.

The sun glared down on them, it was hot. There was no breeze today. "We will take the tank train," said Razai, allowing Qin to enter. "Please wait while I make the appropriate arrangements, war minister." Razai spent the next 10 minutes requisitioning catapults and gathering the seven Yir Gao politicians. He attached the wagon of catapults to the tank train and ordered for the prisoners to be put into the back, including Qi. He entered the tank train, dust spat upwards and steam shot from the exhaust pipe as it sped towards the front wall of Ba Sing Se.

Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph watched the massive encampment grow outside the walls of Ba Sing Se, things were worse than he could imagine. General Sung, an important military figure in the Council of Five, joined them on the wall with a light hearted enthusiasm. He was an old man between the ages of 60 and 70. In his prime he was probably tall and well built but his age had made him hunched and slow. Two strands of black hair fell from his lips slightly below his chin that wiggled when he spoke, "Children, you need not worry, it is called Ba Sing Se because it is the impenetrable city. Many of tried to get in, none of succeeded," he said confidently. Toph had her arms crossed and her face was written with uncertainty. "What about the Dragon of the West, he got through," Toph said bluntly. Sung was caught off guard but laughed. "Technically, yes, but he was, eh, quickly expunged," he said, but not with confidence. Aang's attention was quickly pulled away from the general when he saw the familiar war machine that had pursued them for almost two days. He frowned, "Guys, you may want to come see this," he said warily. Katara, Sokka, and Toph quickly joined him near the edge of the wall. The machine had stopped and from the cabin, an elderly but tall man was joined by two familiar faces. "Hey, those are the guys that were chasing us!" said Sokka quite loudly. "Wait...what are they doing?" said Katara when she noticed the prisoners being pulled from another cabin attachment.

The prisoners silently left their cabin and lined up. Jen was babbling like a child but the other six were quiet. "War minister, is it true that Ba Sing Se citizens don't even know about the war?" Razai asked thoughtfully. Qin stepped from the cabin and shielded his eyes from the glare of the wall, which reflected light quite brightly. "From my reports, the Dai Li keep things quiet," said Qin, who was still confused as to why they were there. Razai smirked and ran his fingers through his long black hair. "Let's give them a message they can't cover up," he said menacingly. His Mirror Guard brought the prisoners forward and pushed them to their knees. Azula eyed her brother carefully, she didn't know what he planned to do. "You have all outlived your purpose for me. For your cooperation, you will be granted quick deaths," said Razai. Qi became wide eyed and tried to run but was smacked by the hilt of a sword, sending him to the ground in pain. The six others remained quiet with their chins held high. Razai summoned a small flare of blue flames that grew quickly in intensity. He swung the flame like a whip and decapitated six of the officials, except Qi. He approached Qi and pulled him up, putting a hand on his back. His face was red from crying and the horrible heat and his eyes were wet from the tears. "You still have a use for me, I think of myself as an honorable man, you will now be put to use," Qi smiled feebly but quickly started yelling when Razai ordered his men to seize him once more. "You're a disgusting example of a human, Qi. While these six were silent and stoic in their efforts, you broke like glass against the stone floor. They earned their quick deaths, you didn't," Razai said with a look of contempt on his face. Jen started babbling once more, "Y-You said I-I would assist you in y-your plans for B-Ba Sing Se!" he yelled. His belly heaved as he struggled against the guards and his neck fat shook as he yelled and tried to talk his way out of his fate. "You will be my message," said Razai eventoned. The seven catapults were pulled into position, adjacent to one another. Azula's eyes widened when she realized her brother's intent. Clever, she thought.

The decapitated corpses of the officials and their heads were gathered and put into the projectile buckets of the war machines. Qi was tied up by his hands and feet and also tossed onto as catapult. He cried and begged but it made the experience that much better. Men like him didn't deserve to live, no, he wasn't even a man. "Please give your regards to the citizens of Ba Sing Se when they find your corpse Qi, I bid you farewell," said Razai. He looked atop the wall and despite its height, could see the figures of the Avatar and his companions. He chuckled and almost allowed his men to fire the catapults before a thought breached his thoughts. "Oh wait, I forgot one last thing," he announced before the soldiers fired. "Azula, if you would go to the cabin there will be a relatively large glass jar, be a sweet sister and retrieve it for me," he asked. Azula nodded and brought back a jar containing an orange tinted liquid. Razai grabbed the jar and unscrewed the top of it. He hummed the Fire Nation national anthem sadistically as he poured the contents of the jar over Qi's head. He then spread the liquid over the other corpses. He lit a small fire on his index finger and held it to Qi's red sweaty bald head. The liquid instantly caught alight. A wave of heat smacked Razai in the face when Qi became completely consumed in the conflagration, yet his screams did not stop. He ordered the soldiers to fire the catapults, which they complied after lighting the other corpses aflame.

Aang watched in horror as he saw the flaming bodies were launched from the catapult. Blazing flesh was left in their wake.

Qi's charred, burning body exploded when it came into contact with a small wooden shack in the lower ring. Burning bits of flesh and fresh innards were spread out, splattering passerbyers and catching several homesteads on fire. The other fiery corpses landed in different parts of the city, for all to see. Almost instantly, the Dai Li rushed to the scenes of the thrown corpses and did their best to hide it, lowering the bodies underground and hiding the blood under dirt, but the peasantry had already started to panic. Many screamed the Fire Nation were attacking and began to spread the word. Fights broke out, market stalls were destroyed, women taken and raped while earthbenders began to trash the lower ringer in the desperation to get supplies. Ba Sing Se was in a state of martial law. Patrols of soldiers doubled in size and frequency as they struggled to keep order.

Razai smirked proudly at the wall and focused on the Avatar. The vengeful, stern look on his face was evident, even from far below the wall. The catapults were loaded back onto the cart and they made their way back to the camp. Slanted stakes were planted as far as a mile out of the camp and trenches filled with spearmen lined the exterior of the camp. The siege was about to begin. They arrived at the command pavilion and went their separate ways. "That was a fine spectacle you threw there Prince Razai, alas, I have matters to attend to," said the war minister before making his way into the pavilion. "I never would have that to throw corpses past a wall, brother," said Azula as she followed Razai towards his tent. "I had read about it in a scroll about concerning the Warlord era of the Fire Nation, it had been initially a way to spread disease but I found that burning corpses can send a powerful message," said Razai as he fell to his bed. Razai made room for Azula but she stood silently, slightly amused.

"The siege begins tomorrow, brother, we can't risk it. I assume you know of the drill?" she asked. Razai, disappointed about her refusal sighed and took off his armor. "Yes I'm aware of it," he said, irritably. "It will set out at the sun's rise, you are expected to be there," she said, her arms crossing her chest. He sighed as he pulled the covers up over his bare body, the silk felt good against his flesh. "I thought you'd be elated, you've been thinking about this since before father sent us out," his sister said, sounding concerned. "Just let me sleep. I'll feel better in the morning," he said, his sister leaving shortly afterwards. He fell into a dream filled sleep, memories of his childhood seeped into his mind as he slept.


	6. Chapter 6

_He sat there by himself in the garden, blowing carefully on the bamboo flute, fingering the appropriate holes to change the pitch of the pleasant noise. He closed his eyes and recited the musical notes by memory and the garden seemed to stand still as his notes floated lazily in the air. He had become aware of a presence behind him and stopped playing, putting the flute in his lap. "You were wonderful," said his mother quietly. Razai continued to look into the pond, focusing on her reflection. "Thank you, mother" replied Razai quietly. "May I sit with you?" Ursa asked, standing still as a statue. "I don't see why you couldn't" Razai replied, sliding sideways a bit to make room for his mother. Ursa sat down beside him and they waited there for several minutes, silent. Razai's throat felt tight, and his breath wasn't coming easy to him. He began to find tears welling in his eyes, but he tried to contain them. He felt an arm wrap around his shoulders and he pushed it away in anger, Ursa frowned in sadness. "I heard what you said to the servant" said Razai angrily. "You called me and Azula monsters," the tears we streaming down his cheeks in full force._

 _Ursa felt like she had been punched, her stomach turned in its place. Guilt ate at her as she listened to her son cry. She would not wait another moment, she embraced her son and allowed him to cry, he buried his face in her chest. She sat there hugging him until the tears couldn't come anymore, his face was red and his eyes turned dry. "I love you no matter what, I shouldn't have called you and your sister that, you aren't monsters," was all Ursa could manage to say. She felt like a child again, she was at a loss for words, her chest hurt the more she thought of what she said about her children. "What did I do wrong?" Razai started to ask but he was interrupted by Ursa, "You did nothing wrong, neither did your sister. I am just afraid of the influence your father is having on both of you," said Ursa. "I thought i was good at bending, dad said I was… am I not?" said Razai hesitantly as he gripped his mom's hand, staring into the pond._

" _No, you are a magnificent bender and anyone would be jealous of you, Zuko and Azula, I don't want you to stop bending either, if that's what makes you happy, it makes me happy too," said Ursa. Razai felt hesitant and sniffled. "We aren't monsters?" asked Razai, now looking into his mother's golden eyes. "No, you are wonderful children and I am the luckiest mother in the world, I will love you no matter what" said Ursa, holding her hands on her son's shoulders. Conflicting feelings ate at his conscience, this was the woman who birthed him, he came from her. But this was also the woman who always scolded him and his sister but never once yelled at Zuko. No, he would allow himself to love her. He had to, he was a part of her, as she was of him. He would never question her love for him, even after her disappearance._

Razai woke up out of breath, the small stone hearth in the center of his tent was dull with dark orange embers flickering. He felt his stomach turn as he pushed himself off his bed, his legs had trouble maintaining balance. What was happening to him? It angered him to no end how weak he was becoming. He opened the tent flaps and covered his eyes at how bright it was. The camp was undermanned. A few soldiers were walking about but no where near as much activity as the previous day. He squinted a long black cylinder that slowly inched along the plains, a massive dust cloud followed in its wake. His sleep ridden mind slowly came to the realization: he had overslept. He threw on his normal red clothes and dark red armor and bolted for the massive machine. As he grew closer the silhouettes of the massive army became apparent underneath the even larger drill. Soldier after soldier marched along in unison while being lead by tanks with komodo rhinos in the rear. The drill moved forward by a series of pistons that dragged it along similar to a caterpillar. When he grew closer a tall command tower rose out of the center of the drill, sitting on steel railings. He ran behind the army as not to disturb the formation and, using his hands and feet, blasted himself on top of the drill. He did so once more and landed on the command tower, opening a hatch and dropping himself inside. The men inside were startled when he hit the ground with a loud metallic _tang_. Azula sat on a small throne with Mai and Ty Lee at her side, she was smirking when she saw her brother. "Dear brother, how _nice_ of you to join us, only three hours late!" she said sardonically as he looked for a seat but could fine none. "Oh, all the seats are taken, but feel free to stand," she said, smiling evilly. A dull headache ate savagely at his head every time the drill landed on its pistons, carrying it forward. "You don't look so good Rai Rai, something the matter?" Rai-Rai… he hadn't heard that since they were children. He felt his hair fly haphazardly every time the drill lurched forward. "Azula, you wouldn't happen to have a mirror on you, would you?" he asked as he attempted to tame his wild hair that fell to his shoulders. "I do!" said Ty Lee who had whipped out a small hand handheld mirror. Razai nodded and smiled and proceeded to fix his hair. He brought up most and tied it in a bun and left the rest to fall behind his head, he then tipped it with his usual red hairpiece in the shape of the Fire Nation sigil. "My Rai-Rai , I knew you were obsessive about your appearance but in the middle of a siege? Tsk tsk, irresponsible," she said mockingly. He allowed himself to laugh at the nickname. "Why are you addressing me as Rai-Rai so suddenly Azula?" he asked while he watched the walls of Ba Sing Se grow closer. "I have called you that since I was three, brother. Do you not remember?" said Azula, smirking. Razai massaged his head as the headache grew worse, the constant vibrations and lurching of the drill were doing him no favors.

After almost an hour, the drill finally came in contact with the wall. Razai took Ty Lee's seat next to Azula since her and Mai had left to deal with a squad of troublesome earthbenders. War Minister Qin was gripping the rails until his knuckles turned white, his excitement was evident. "Brother, in all seriousness, why are you so dour at a time like this? I thought you'd be excited," she asked, concern broke her usual mask of intimidation and venomous playfulness. Razai sighed and kneaded his forehead. "I truly don't know, but I want to talk to you the next time we have some privacy," Razai said. Suddenly, the whole drill began to groan and shake. Reports of a support beam being split flooded through the intercom system. Azula glared at Qin who had said no one could infiltrate the drill. She looked to his brother who had nodded in return. They both got up and moved to intercept who had ever made it inside the drill.

Aang began to slice an "X" shaped wound into the drill until the metal gave way, creating a noticeable indentation in the grey steel. His eyes ran up just in time to see blue fire hiss towards him. He revolved his staff quickly, dispelling the fire.

Razai turned to his sister and looked at her disapprovingly. "Need I remind you blue fire is lethal? We are trying to capture him, not maim him," he said, scoffing. She sighed and bowed dramatically towards the confused Avatar. "I am sorry, Avatar. My brother disapproves of my firebending," she said before gesturing to Razai. He sent two fistfuls of orange flames at the Avatar and then a powerful kick. The boy barely had time to dodge the third blast, jumping backwards and almost losing balance. Razai felt his heart leap into his throat when a massive boulder dropped in front of him, followed by several more which he had to dodge. The Avatar caught a boulder, levitating it above his head before sending it towards Azula, followed by a blast of air. As Azula did a split to avoid the boulder, the blast of air sent her backwards, almost falling off the side. With renewed ferocity, Razai resumed his offensive by sending several blasts of fire towards the Avatar who had raised a small wall of rock.

He began to punch small rocks towards Razai who kicked them out of the way which was painful on its own. _Enough of this,_ he thought to himself. He conjured a very contained ball of white blue flame and sent it towards the wall of rock. Like glass the wall shattered and sent the Avatar reeling backwards into the wall. Razai checked behind him to see his sister beginning to stand up. He went towards the fallen Avatar and lifted him by his shirt, holding a dangerous flare of blue fire near his face. He didn't intent to harm him, but fear is a scent he loved to indulge in. The Avatar's eyes struggled to open but when they focused on Razai holding the fire near his face, he brought forth his arm and grabbed him by his armor. Odd, for a 14 year old boy he had an awfully large hand. He looked down to see a fist of brown stone envelope his relatively tiny torso, the Avatar could literally snap him in half. But he didn't, the Avatar just tossed him backwards. Razai's metal boots tore into the steel of the drill, causing orange sparks to erupt out of the metal.

This was becoming annoying. Most of the time he enjoyed a fight and the Avatar had been a sure enough challenge but the headache only increased with every blow the Avatar landed. He was wasting time. He charged towards the Avatar with a ball of condensed white flame. As soon as he extended his fingers, the drill shook violently followed by an eruption of mud. The mud shot up and outwards from the wall, sending Azula, Razai, and the Avatar sliding down the hull. Razai continued to slide down the drill feet first. He blasted fire from his feet, sending him back up the drill. Azula dug her nails into the hull, stopping her descent. As Razai came to the top, he noticed the Avatar running down the wall, how he got up it in the first place was lost to Razai as he began to conjure lightning. The blue twigs of energy arced in between his fingers and floated violently in the air. As he prepared to unleash the bolt of energy, the Avatar slammed into the drill. In response, the drill's internal pressure finally exploded. More mud began to erupt from the drill's segments. An intense wave of air extended from the Avatar's impact point, expanding outward. Razai felt the pain in his head spike when the wave of air hit him like a forceful punch. The lightning he had prepared to unleashed flashed into the sky harmlessly. His vision blackened instantly when he felt himself slam into the bulkhead of the drill. He heard a loud _crack_ and hoped to Agni he hadn't broken his skull. He felt his body slump to the floor, slowly sliding down the side the drill. Loud ringing screamed into his ears as he slipped into unconsciousness.

 _Azula squirmed next to him as she fought to become comfortable, her legs and arms ached. Training at the academy had gotten more intense as she progressed, it had come to the point where she had sparred with the teachers as the other girls became no challenge. She knew she was getting too old to sleep with her brother, but she didn't care. She knew people would look at them oddly but she didn't care. She had grown accustomed to his smell and his heat. "Razai…" Azula whispered. He shivered when he heard her voice. "Yes?" Razai replied. It was quite obvious he hadn't been asleep. "I'm hurting," she said quietly. Razai sat up and peered down at her through the darkness of their room, his eyes adjusted to the darkness and saw the frown on her face. "What hurts?" Razai asked. Azula, in the darkness pointed to her shoulders._

 _Razai hesitantly laid his hands on her shoulders. For 13 she was quite well built but still retained a feminine form. She had started adolescence and she found herself noticing the subtle changes. Her hips became wider and her thighs became thicker while her chest grew in size and she had grown a few inches taller in the past year. In the darkness, he pushed down on her shoulders and she grunted positively in response. "Lower please, my back also hurts." He quietly complied and moved his hands lower. She was covered a thin silk robe but even in the darkness he could tell that she wore nothing under that. Her back popped a few times as he pushed his knuckles down on her spine and he went back up. He repeated this process a few times. He found himself hypnotized in this process, he did it more without thinking. He eventually found himself kneading her buttocks and he immediately jerked his hands away. "Don't stop, that feels good," she said._

 _He hesitated but went back to rubbing her backside. Her soft flesh molded and morphed to his firm touches and he received an occasional sigh, letting him know he was doing something right. His hands drifted lower between her and found the warm moistness of her intimacy. He felt her shiver and brought his hands back up. He felt her hand grip his wrist and guide it back towards her nether region. His fingers traced the outline of her folds, her legs squirmed slightly as she became aware of a growing pleasure, one she had never experienced. His hesitance was greeted with impatience. She grabbed his hand and forced him to enter her. His fingers plunged into the wetness that was her core and he was greeted with a frightening growl that escaped his sister's clenched teeth._

 _She guided his hand in a circular motion and encouraged him to do more but he became aware of a fairly painful presence in his groin. He took his hand from his sister's core and groped his erection, hoping to quell this reaction that was unknown to him. He gritted his teeth and shuddered when a foreign hand replaced his own at his groin. Her hand was inexperienced but seemed to understand the concept of what needed to be done. She removed his cock from his pants and began to pump. His reactions were beastlike. He panted and grunted as he felt his innards rise slowly up his length. His back arched and his tip burned when his substance spilled onto her hand, though pleasure seeped from his organ and up his pelvis. They were both unsure what to do. They sat in silence for several minutes, Azula waited for Razai to catch his breath. Razai was unsure what to think, this had never happened to him before. But it felt good, so it must be okay, right? Yes._


	7. Chapter 7

Razai's vision and sound returned painfully slow. The ringing had returned, but much less obnoxiously. He felt himself being dragged along like a hunting prize, feet being gripped first and his upper body dragging along behind his legs. His vision returned slowly, a dim green light punctured the infinite blackness. Soon two moving silhouettes made themselves known, then the moving walls, and finally his own body. His royal armor was stripped, he wore a thin linen tunic that was once maybe white but now was a dull yellow, most likely from frequent use, and dark stains of dirt that coated the rag. His first reaction to his captors was to bring his hands forward but he found he couldn't move his hands. He would have looked but his arms were being dragged along behind his head, painfully bound in hard, coarse, rock. He looked at his captors, two rather tall men wearing dark green robes and black summer hats, easily recognisable as the Dai Li.

He began to grow drowsy again. Metal door after metal door passed by his eyes in a never ending labyrinth of corridors and turns, he felt his eyelids slowly descend until he fell asleep.

He awoke with a gasp when he found himself being restrained to a wall of very cold metal. Despite his drowsiness, he attempted to find an opening at which to attack. Perhaps he could raise his feet up and cut the chains with fire? No, his feet were pinned to the floor under very thick formations of rock. He groaned when he noticed his right hand was covered in more rock. He would give them credit where it was due, they knew he could just melt the chains. He had to act now. As they lifted his left hand to earthbend rock over it he lashed out at his captors with a blue whip of fire. But the Dai Li had predicted this and dodged the attack, responding to his response with a kick to his stomach. He felt his insides rise up and spewed forth food and bile over himself and the floor. The Dai Li then sent a glove shaped rock colliding with his hand. He felt his wrist shatter under the impact of the glove which now pinned his arm to the wall. He had never broken a bone before. Besides the burn Zuko gave him he never really had major injuries but this could be the new record, but not for long if he were to stay in this dungeon. The pain was searing and indescribable, he had to fight to keep the moans of distress from escaping his lips and he felt tears well in his eyes. One of his jailors wrapped a black cloth around his eyes then left the cell in silence. The door slammed shut and shrouded him in complete darkness.

He didn't know how long he had been staying in his cell. No matter how many times he closed or opened his eyes, nothing changed. Sleep came and went and he didn't know the difference between his dreams and hallucinations. Sometimes he heard his mother whispering to him in his ear, other times he would just hear the constant dripping of water. Other times he just heard the maddening rhythm of his beating heart. He even grew glad when his heart beat just a bit faster, just so he would not have to hear the same sound over and over again. He tried to breath fire but it came out in small sparks, it was too cold to bend. They brought him food every now and then but he didn't know the pattern, they simply force fed him and then left, the same with his water. He began to hear deep, resonating thumps from outside his cell that eventually receded after becoming loud. He didn't know how far away it was. He didn't even remember how big his cell was. He hadn't moved ever since he was thrown inside. Had it been days, weeks, months? He couldn't tell anymore. Time didn't exist, his eyes wouldn't adjust to the extreme darkness. Had they blinded him? Had they gouged his eyes out with hot tools? Or was it a dream? He couldn't tell what was real anymore. He didn't feel like Razai, third child of the Fire Lord. He just didn't exist, he was in limbo. This was his punishment, to stay here forever in the dark.

He could feel the insects pouring into his rock encased feet. They nibbled on his feet, tearing away the flesh. He could feel the liquid which stuck to his feet, it had to be his blood. The thumps were back, and they were getting louder. He shuddered when he heard his cell door open with, metal grinded against the stone floor loudly. The Earth surrounding his hands receded and he crumpled to the floor. What a sad mistake. He tried to move his arm upward to release a blast of fire but found his arm unwilling to move. A throbbing pain afflicted his wrist, he couldn't move it either, it just hung uselessly from his arm. He was picked up by both of his arms and carried down a long series of hallways. By the time he reached the chamber the top of his feet were raw and bloody. He felt himself hauled onto a table and held down by rock restrains. He felt his blindfold being removed and, when it was finally taken off, felt his eyes throb under the intense green light. In truth, it was very dim, but even the smallest hint of light damaged his vision. He could make out three darkened figures against the green light, all wearing summer hats. He had somehow forgotten he was a prisoner of the Dai Li, his mind had created all kinds of enemies for him. His brother, his father, his uncle, _Azula_ \- _No, not Azula. Don't think that way_.

"I trust you have been comfortable, Prince Razai?" said a soft spoken but baritone voice. Razai, for the first time in a long time, maybe, had smiled. He couldn't help but chuckle despite his hurting eyes, throbbing wrist and pounding headache. "Being blinded and having a broken bone doesn't make you feel very welcome, I'm afraid to say," said Razai. His lips cracked and bled from his wide grin and dry lips. He must look like a monster right now. _Monsters can be beautiful_ said a quiet voice in his head, almost to remind him. "I see the legendary humor of the third son of the Fire Lord isn't exaggerated. To have gone through this much without breaking… it's surprising," said the man. His vision focused on the face that was speaking to him.

He was a rather tall individual with three thick strands of facial hair from his lips and chin. His bald head glinted in the dim green light. "How long have I been here?" said Razai. The man wasted no time in answering. "A month and a half almost," he said thoughtfully. Razai laughed bitterly. "You'd be surprised the things my mind has come up with in complete darkness, it's terrifying," said Razai, his voice was hoarse from no use.

Long Feng was surprised how open the prince was, even admitting how fearful he had been in the circumstances. He wasn't broken, cracked maybe, but that wasn't enough. "I doubt you'll keep your humor, prince. None do in the dungeons of the Earth Kingdom, I'm afraid," he said to the restrained noble as he paced around the table. "You'd be surprised my most politest of captors. I call you polite because you haven't harmed me unlike these two gentlemen. _Are_ they the ones that kicked my stomach and broke my wrist?" asked the prince. His captor ignored the question."I don't plan on harming you myself, I don't personally have the stomach for torture, that's why I brought my colleagues here," said the man. "Oh but I insist. I'd be much more inclined to talk to my most talkative of captors rather than ones I know nothing about," said Razai.

He felt rocks sprout from below his head and wrap around it, forbidding him from looking up and around. "Yet, you know nothing of me, Prince Razai," said Long Feng, standing at the doorway to leave the chamber. "Oh, but I do. The way your carry yourself and talk. You overcompensate your etiquette, you aren't of noble blood, so I shouldn't be surprised you can't see me bleed yourself," said Razai quietly but menacingly. "What is your name?" Razai asked. The man stood silently for a few moments before slamming the door shut. So you aren't a nobleman. He couldn't help but smile despite his situation.

He continued to think of ways he might escape but became distracted by a very low pressure on his forearm that he couldn't see. He just sighed and sat there for a few more minutes, the pressure gradually increasing. He began to sweat and his breaths came at a quicker rate heavy as he felt a dull pain begin to well in his arm. Were they going to break it? What did they want from him that they didn't already know? _Revenge_. The thought was an amusing one. Grown men, government officials no less, torturing a 16 year old boy for revenge. Revenge for his occupation of Yir Gao. Revenge for the corpses he threw over the wall. Revenge for the drill. He felt the pain reach its peak then felt a horrid _snap_. He didn't hold in his screams. It's what they wanted and he wanted to give them no excuse to find more ways to get him to scream. He felt his throat vibrate and tear from the screaming as the pain traveled up from his arm and across his chest. They did no more but allowed him some hours to sit there in pain.

They blindfolded him once more and brought him back to his cell. With his left wrist shattered and his right forearm broken, there was little he could do without resounding pain that kept him limp on the cold stone floor, damp and sticky with blood, vomit, and his excrement. He eventually fell asleep. Or unconscious, he didn't know.

He awoke strapped back to the table, his eyes hurt and his head was pounding. His eyes met with his captor once more. Despite the pain, his lips curled at the sight of the non-noble. "I thought you didn't have the stomach for torture, my Lord Captor." He spat the last two words out with as much venom as he could muster. The man ignored him and simply bent down so Razai could see him. "I don't plan on letting you live long, Prince Razai," said the man. Razai managed a weak chuckle. "You know much about me I presume, care to share some things about yourself?" said Razai. Did this man have a family? He hoped so. He would skin them alive in front of his eyes. He'd force him to watch. He didn't even know if he would ever escape but he felt the weak bursts of adrenaline get his heart pumping. It was keeping him alive thinking of all the things he would do to the men here. "I have a mother and father, naturally. A sister as well," he said with no emotion. Razai laughed aloud sadistically. He wouldn't say anything that might bring further injury however. Two of his normal captors had positioned themselves behind his head. Their shoes scuffled softly against the smoothed stone floor. "I'd like to talk about your family however, Razai," said the man quietly. Razai felt a pit in his stomach, pulling at his innards in a painful way. "I have heard you maintain a fairly healthy relationship with both of your siblings. With your banished brother, Zuko, it seems you hold a fairly high opinion of him. Risking your life for him was a very noble thing to do." How did he know that? He swallowed a lump in his throat when he thought that Zuko and Iroh could be in the city. The Dai Li couldn't know everything that had transpired before he came to the city.

"I was not so surprised to hear that you and Azula get along swimmingly, twins do to tend to understand each other on a very _close_ level." Razai flinched when he heard the emphasis his captor put on that word. He couldn't have known, no one did except them. "Inseparable at birth if my sources prove correct. Always with each other, training day after day...occasionally at night. Normal for Fire Nation standards if I'm right. It is quite good practice to firebend at night in order to further your abilities without the sun. I was, however, surprised when my spies told me of both of you have a rather, _intimate_ relationship." Razai felt sweat trickle down his forehead. He couldn't have known. _Yes he does_ , a voice whispered to him in the back of his head. "I know all about your feelings for your sister, Razai. I have heard the words you have spoken towards her. Very romantic and sweet. It's a shame you won't be able to see her face again... _even_ if you manage to leave here alive." Razai felt his heart skip a beat when he thought of his captor's words. He didn't have a chance to make sense of when the vision of his right eye become painted with blinding redness then eventually it left him all together.

His blindness was accompanied with agonizing pain. His lungs released air he had been holding for quite some time in the form of a scream. Despite his sore throat, he kept screaming, he couldn't stop. His right eye was punctured by a hot metal rod and was left in there to burn. His attempts to struggle were made null when the rocks that restrained him tightened around his waist, arms, legs and head. His brain was fighting to stay awake, trying to deal with the pain but he found himself falling into unconsciousness. "We'll take the other one within a fortnight," he heard the voice say.


	8. Chapter 8

**Prologue Ends here. Story begins next chapter.**

 _The hallways were dim with torchlight. Shadows of changing geometry and length danced across the red stained walls. He found his legs carrying him tiredly to his bedroom. He had been training hard today with several different instructors. Practicing the forms from the fire scroll his uncle had given to him as a gift. His palms were stricken with calluses and his right arm was raw, angry and red from a nasty burn one of his teachers had given him, but it was all worth it. He finally reached his room, a dim light was casting from underneath the door, he could see movement inside. He prepared himself and opened the door, hands raised, ready to strike. He found his sister Azula pacing back and forth in front of his bed._

" _I waited for you," she said quietly. Her hair was down. It was like a black river that extended to her upper back, she smelled of spices and lotions. "What are you-" he was silenced when she dropped her thin silk robe from her body. He immediately reverted his eyes away and felt his cheeks rush with heat; he was blushing. "Look at me," his sister said quietly. He felt his heart might burst out of his chest with how fast it was beating. "Look," she said once more._

 _She stepped forward and lightly gripped his chin, directing it towards her face. Her cheeks were pale and creamy, her lips were red with lipstick and her eyes were slightly dark from eyeliner. She was beautiful. She guided his head downwards to look at her body. Her collarbone and shoulder muscles pressed up against her athletic upper body. He found his eyes looking further down his sister's body._

 _They found each other entwined in bed, legs wrapped around each other and tongues snaking around each other's mouths. He felt his member grow stiff with constant contact. He looked at Azula, her face was flushed and her eyes were glowing. She was in a rare moment. All of her composure and her mask of no emotion was gone. Despite having no previous experience, he felt inclined to enter her moist, beckoning lips._

 _He looked down on her in concern, she knew what he was thinking. She silently nodded and braced herself. A spasm of pleasure overtook him as he felt his organ slide into her incredibly tight core. Her walls were pushed forcefully apart as he pushed further into her. Her nails dug deep into his back and he thought for sure her teeth would shatter with how much she was gritting. He felt guilty and he slowly pulled out but she held him firm inside her. "Don't...I-I'll be fine, keep going," she managed to say despite the pain she felt._

 _He felt her grip became softer as he pulled in and out, it felt amazing for him but it somehow felt less knowing she was in pain. He felt a familiar pressure in his pelvis and pumped fast until it threatened to burst. "Stop, pull out," she said sternly. He did so and felt his tip burst forth seed onto her stomach. He collapsed on top of her and felt a surge of fatigue. Her hands rubbed through his hair in an almost motherly fashion and she whispered his name repeatedly in his ear. "Razai...Razai...Razai...," As he felt himself fall into an exhausted sleep he could only think of his mother. Her long, pale, beautiful face watching him from afar in the darkness._

"Razai...Razai...Razai, Razai!" screamed a voice in his head. He heard a rhythmic metallic banging that hurt his ears. He opened his eyes and could only see complete darkness but the banging was becoming more fierce and erratic. In a gust of heat and azure flames, the door was knocked down. It felt like his eyes vibrated within his sockets when the blue flames enlightened his cell.

Azula was assaulted by a wave of horrid scents. Bodily waste, infected wounds and unkempt body odor rushed forth from the cell. She eyed the corner of the cell. A pale corpse laid crumpled in the corner. She almost turned away to proceed to the next cell before she heard a whisper. "Mom..." said the corpse. She felt her legs rush her body forward, down onto her knees, examining the frail body. "Mom?" the corpse said, when she raised its head, her heart stopped. Its hair was mangled and clotted with dirt, blood, and general muck. His face sunken into itself. She could feel the tears run down her cheeks when she saw its eye.

It was infected and festering. Black blood crusted around its ruined socket, dried blood was tattooed down its cheek. Its body was pale, the skin drooped on its bones which jutted out. A skeleton draped in a thin cloak. "Mom…" it said once more. The corpse' eyes were golden, but they no longer emanated life like they once had. She picked it up as she would a child, careful not to be too rough.

His mother picked him up by his neck and legs, cradling him against her chest. Her hair was different. Two bangs hung at either side of her head, framing her face. Her bright red lips reflected the dim green light that hung at the side of the dark tunnel they traveled in. She looked different, no doubt she had to disguise herself so she wouldn't be recognised. She looked younger even, her creamy skin was flawless.

He must have died in his cell, his mother taking him to the spirit world. He couldn't move his head, he wanted to see what awaited him at the end of the tunnel but his mother's warmth stayed his head. A whiteness began to envelope them both, consuming them in a heavenly light. He could see the black silhouettes of heads turning to watch them. Their faces soon came to focus, frowns and drooping eyebrows marked their sadness and pity. "It will be okay…" his mother said. Her voice made him drowsy, his eyes began to close, his mother's voice ushered him to a pleasant sleep. "It's okay...it's okay…it's okay…"

Razai heard a drum beating in the distance, he could hear shouting, steel bashing against steel. The familiar sound of earthbending, followed by a sick c _rack_ and _gush_. The drum became louder over the sounds of battle. The unified marching of soldiers drowned out the sound of wailing mothers and children. Fires burned and the tinkling of chains with mannish sobs echoed in his ears. The drum drowned out everything else, he felt his eyes open, the fire of a hearth was bright, yet half of his room was dark. Odd.

He looked down, he was under heavy, comfortable covers, in a bed. He looked above and saw the Fire Nation emblem painted onto a rich wooden bed canopy. He felt good, surprisingly. Was it just a dream? He sat up, and looked about. The other side of the room was instantly illuminated, he saw a dresser with a mirror sat atop and a desk neatly organized with quill and oil and an even stack of papers and a small wooden chair, cushioned with red leather.

The crackling of the fireplace was soothing and familiar, he felt like a child again. This blackness on the left side of his face was annoying, what had happened? Then it hit him, he was captured after the drill was destroyed. He was in the dungeons of Ba Sing Se for longer than a month. His left eye was gone. He flinched his wrist and wiggled his arm, despite a dull pain, he could move both. He decided to sit up. It was quite an easy feat despite his previous conditions.

He swung his legs out from his bed and sat up. He felt a bit disoriented but managed to walk himself to the mirror. His face was a bit sunken, but not as bad as he would imagined it would be. He removed his robes and eyed his chest and stomach, a nasty black and purple bruise blotched his stomach, yet everything else was normal. His ribs showed a tiny bit but judging from his color and stature, he had been recovering quite well.

He looked at his hair, it was combed and clean, shining in the orange light of his room. It's length was as it had always been, draping his shoulders. He eyed the linen bandages covering his left eye, an itch soon followed afterwards, one he wanted to scratch but he dared not. He left the mirror and approached the door, twisting the copper colored doorknob and stepping into the well lit corridor. Light flushed through several windows and he could hear the sounds of birds chirping outside. Was he dreaming? He walked down the halls and was greeted by the large multicolored expanse of the royal gardens. He was at home, in the royal palace. He walked towards his sister's room, he needed to find her.

He walked barefoot down the hallways, walking through the warm god rays that shone through the windows. He finally reached his sister's room. An orange light shone underneath the door. He turned the doorknob and pushed the door open. He looked inside and saw his sister sitting at a desk, writing on a sheet of paper with a black, feathered, quill. Before he said anything she looked up at the sound of the door opening.

She dropped her quill and quickly sat up from the desk, slowly walking towards Razai. She found herself taking quicker steps towards him until they both wrapped their arms around each other. He buried his face into her shoulder and he could hear her sniffling, trying to stop tears. But he couldn't cry. "I-I thou-" she tried to say. Her hands rubbed his back then groped his face, as if trying to make sure he was real. He found himself pushing her off of him, much to her silent disappointment.

"What happened?" he said silently and emotionlessly. Azula continued to look at him, sad and concerned. "You were knocked unconscious after our fight with the Avatar, the Dai Li were waiting for someone important to fall at the drill. They took advantage and retrieved your body before we could get to it. After several weeks of planning, me, Ty Lee, and Mai managed to stage a coup against the Earth King with the Dai Li. After we found the dungeon locations underneath the city we searched every cell until we found you," she said.

Razai sighed and looked past her, staring at nothing. "Who were the ones that did this to me?" he asked quietly. "The head of the Dai Li, Long Feng and his two personal guards," she said monotonically. "Where are they, were they killed?" he asked quickly. "No, they are in the prison tower," she said. Razai felt like smiling but did not. "Soon enough I will visit them," he said before turning to leave. "The Avatar is dead and Zuko has returned," she said before he could leave.

His heart skipped a beat when he had heard her. Zuko was home. "What of Iroh?" he asked. Azula continued to look at the back of his head, she hesitated. "He is imprisoned," she said. Razai exhaled tiredly, despite having awoken. "How long was I asleep?" he asked. "Almost three weeks, you were in a coma from what the physicians said. Your brain couldn't handle the treatment you indured and so you simply fell unconscious," she said as she stood beside him now.

"I want to see my eye," he said curtly as he raised his hand to unwrap the bandage. Azula, startled gripped his hand, "No, the physician said it could get infected again, you almost died of infection after we got you out of the dungeon," she said. "I don't care, let me see it," he said plainly. She relented and helped him peel the bandages off. He sat in front of the mirror as the last of the wrappings were removed.

The area around his eye was blackened skin, in the center was a simple black hole. The skin was dry and damaged but not rotten and festering as it had been. Azula had let him watch for a few moments before she began to wrap his eye back up. "No, I don't need the bandages. Let everyone see," he said before he got up. He left her room silently and quickly, leaving her to stare at the chair he had just sat in.

He came back to his room and opened his wardrobe. He stripped from his robes and grabbed a dark red shirt and pants. He then draped himself in red and gold robes with red and black spiked pauldrons. It felt large for him, but he guessed he lost much weight since his imprisonment. His black leather boots scuffed on the floor with every step as he went to find his brother. When he rounded the corner he saw his brother already looking at him, his footsteps preceded him. He felt his feet rush him forward, his arms wrapped around his older brother's waist and his head buried into his chest. Zuko accepted his little brother's embrace and held him there for several minutes, just hugging. "I'm so glad you're home," said Razai quietly.

Zuko felt elated. He hadn't truly hugged any of his siblings like this since they were children. It was odd however, the usual warmth of his brother was gone, he was cold. His body still had heat obviously but he just didn't emanate the heat a firebender normally would. They stopped hugging and walked to Zuko's room. They both sat at a small table and shared tea. "Did you kill the Avatar?" Razai asked his brother. Zuko met his eyes then quickly looked away. "Yes," he said simply. He was lying, he could already tell. He was relieved somehow, he wasn't sure why.

It would be easy to see his sister hold the responsibility of a child's death but he couldn't see his brother like that. "I assume you spoke with father?" Razai asked. "Yes...he actually seemed...happy I was home," Zuko said quietly. "Of course he is, Zuko. No matter how tough the man may seem, we're still of his blood," Razai said, unconvincingly. He had a hard time believing himself when he said that statement.

"What happened at Ba Sing Se?" Razai asked. Zuko looked up in genuine shock. "How did you-" he began to say. "My captors were generous enough to tell me of your whereabouts. They didn't expect me to live, neither did I really," Razai said emotionlessly. "How did you get into Ba Sing Se and what were you doing?" he asked his brother. Razai listened intently as Zuko recounted his story of how he and Iroh came into the city as refugees and quickly became employed as assistants in a tea shop. Razai let out a small _hmph_ reminiscent of a laugh when he heard how Iroh's tea quickly became famous and earned them an audience with the Earth King, though he didn't smile. He found his lips unwilling to curl as easily as they used to.

Him and his brother had found themselves talking for easily a few hours. "You should go see father, he's been wanting to talk to you," said Zuko as Razai approached the door. He wanted to ask if he had visited him during his coma but he felt like he already knew the answer. He nodded and left his brother's room quietly.

He entered the throne room which was illuminated in the usual orange glow. The room was warm, uncomfortably warm for even a firebender, though he had strange fears in his mind which left him thinking if he could still bend. He hadn't tried yet but he was too afraid of the results. He approached his father and went to his knees. For a few moments his father had said nothing until finally he told him to rise. "Azula has told me that you spent almost two months in the dungeons of Ba Sing Se, they broke several of your bones and removed your eye which I can clearly see," said Ozai as he inspected his son. He felt vulnerable when he was around his father, he felt like any moment his father would chastise him or lash out at the tiniest thing.

"Can you still bend?" his father asked. Razai felt a lump congene in his throat. He was terrified of what might happen. "I haven't tried," he said quietly. "Do so now," Ozai said. Razai rose to his feet and pushed his fist through the air, trying to release flames. Nothing had come forth, the air was cold so to speak, though nothing was really cold in the throne room, even when fire did not rise from in front of the throne. His heart beat faster as he continued to try in front of his father, who waited patiently. After a few minutes of trying to produce even a little heat, none came. He hung his head and fell to his knees once more in front of his father. He heard him sigh, "You may go," Ozai said. Razai nodded then left the throne room.

He quickly returned to his room and fell to his bed after stripping his clothes. His firebending was gone. He had been a prodigy like Azula, he was just as talented as her. All those years of training and perfecting had been for nothing now that his bending was gone. What now? What did he have to his name besides being the third born of the Fire Lord? Nothing. He was nothing now. He did not cry, he didn't even feel tears. He just felt hollow. He fell into a dreamless sleep. And just as quickly as he fell asleep, he woke again.

He dressed once more as he usually did and left his room for the gardens. He sat underneath the tree near the pond in silence, staring into the pond at his reflections. His face was returning to normal, besides his eye. The pit that was once his left eye was blackened in the center and the skin that surrounded his eye had turned grey. He sat there in silence, ignoring the birds and insects that buzzed around him, he even disregarded the turtleducks who had approached him more than once. He was awakened from his quiet hibernation when he felt a rather large hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see his father, staring at him almost mournfully.

"I know you have lost your firebending. I know that you now have nothing to your name other than being my third born. However, you are still my son. Make of the situation what you will but you will carry on the legacy of the family when I am gone. You three, my _children_ will expand the dynasty and keep it alive for centuries to come. I am relying on you. I cannot have a depressed son. You do not need firebending to make yourself known in our nation. I am told you occupied Yir Gao without using your bending once. I am told you even developed your own formation which proved decisive in the occupation of Ba Sing Se. Your sister used the technique to capture the Middle Ring and even proved useful in the tight corridors of the palace." He listened to his father's words, his heart raised itself a bit higher. "You have so many things you can make of your life if you do not have your bending. Do not forget you have a duty to your family name. See that your affliction does not continue very long. I will leave you to mourn for now, my son," said his father before he walked away silently.

He stayed in the gardens maybe an hour more before he went to the throne room to find his father. He approached silently before kneeling, rising when given permission. "Father, I ask to deal punishment to my captors," he said emotionlessly. Ozai watched him thoughtfully, thinking. "Very well, what would you have me do with them?" he asked. Razai wanted to deal the punishment himself but said nothing. "They took one of my eyes, I want both of theirs taken. They shattered my wrist and snapped my arm, break both of their arms and legs. They took my bending..." His knuckles grew white and he felt his throat hurt. "Have them flayed alive and their corpses hung from the Earth Kingdom palace," Razai said, his single eye staring hatefully at his father. He remembered his plans in the dungeon, _If they had families he would have them flayed alive in front of their eyes_ but quickly pushed the thought from his head. Ozai seemed to approve and nodded, dismissing him.

He made his way quickly to Zuko's room, trying to avoid Azula. He truly didn't know why he wanted to avoid Azula, she was the one that saved him from that wretched place but he felt distant to her. He knocked on his brother's door, the door opened in response. Zuko invited him in and they sat across from each other in plush, red leather chairs. "I have been meaning to talk about this, Zuko. But I ask that you keep this between us, please," said Razai. He nodded and allowed his little brother to continue.

"When I was a prisoner, I was blindfolded for almost an entire two months. My sleep and time awake melded together until I swore I would never see anything other than the three men that tortured me," he hesitated before he spoke again. "But...I saw mother," he said quietly. Zuko's eyebrows raised slightly at what his brother had said. "When Azula brought me from the dungeons, I saw her as mother. I thought I was dead. I heard her voice, I saw her face. I think she's still alive," said Razai. His brother remained silent. "I have no practical use here in the capital and I plan to spend my time searching for her." Both Zuko and Razai sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity before he spoke. "Will father allow it?" Zuko said, breaking the silence.

"I will search for her while I establish order in our captured territories. Setting up governments and keeping the peace. It is likely she would have fled to the Earth Kingdom but I will check her home village first," said Razai as he rose from the chair. "I'll go with you," Zuko said quickly.

"No, you're the Crown Prince, your place is here, in the capital," said Razai as approached Zuko. "Listen to me, brother. Father spoke to me this morning. What he said actually helped me. He told me that us three, his children, will carry on the legacy of our family. Our dynasty will last centuries to come if we handle ourselves correctly. I know you have always had a kind heart but I beg of you, please, don't throw away your duties and family like you did before because you felt like it wasn't right. Become the Fire Lord you were meant to be. Wise but decisive. Cruel yet merciful to the right people. Our legacy is on your shoulders just as much as it is on mine, you will be the leader of our nation and we all rely on you to help us remain a strong nation. The world doesn't need an Avatar anymore. It needs a leader." Zuko continued to stare at where Razai had been long after he left. He fell asleep thinking of his brother's words.

Razai made the necessary arrangements and sent for his flagship which should return to the harbor in a few days. He made his way to his sister's room, he felt hesitant when he found her door, but he pushed the door open regardless. He entered to see the room vacant, but could see the light in her bathroom. Before, he would have gladly entered but now he felt alienated and odd, deciding to sit and wait.

He waited for perhaps half an hour before he heard the bathroom door squeak open. He turned to see his sister wrapped in a red silk robe, her hair was still wet and sticked to her upper back. She smirked and approached him. He felt his eye divert away when she stepped in front him but decided to look upon her. She seemed even more beautiful without her makeup, more natural, more vulnerable, more human.

"You could have joined me, brother," she purred. Razai felt a lump form in his throat. How was he to say what he needed to say? He exhaled and decided to just say it. "I will be leaving the fire nation capital and traveling throughout the Earth Kingdom. I will help establish the governments and keep the local population stable," he said. Azula's eyes widened and her knuckles turned white as she gripped her own palms.

"No, you just got back, you can't just leave. You're family!" she found herself yelling at him. Razai felt guilty. She had gone through all that trouble. Staging the coup, occupying Ba Sing Se. She almost saw him die and he was leaving her again. "I'm not leaving forever, I will be back in a few year's time and we wi-" Razai was cut off when Azula began to scream at him. "You can't leave me here! I have no one else! No one else loves me the way you do!" she shrieked. Razai's composure was the same and unyielding. "You will still have Zuk-" he attempted. "I don't want Zuko! I want you! We were birthed moments apart, you had your hand on my foot! Mother said so!"

She found herself quiet when she realized she had mentioned mother. The stern look Razai gave her was enough information. "Please… don't leave. I can't live without you. I thought you would die and...and…" she couldn't continue without tears welling in her eyes. Razai remained seated. His face hadn't changed and his eye remained opened, staring at her. "You are my sister, I will love you forever. But our family is at risk with the trysts that we do, we cannot continue," Razai said sternly. "All I was to you was a tryst? I meant nothing?" she said angrily. Razai continued to stare at her, unyielding. "You know what you meant to me, Azula."

"You told me yourself I was your other half. You couldn't be happy without me…" she said quietly. Razai rose to his feet and gripped his sister's hands. "Azula, we will not live forever. Our family's legacy is what we make it. A child born of two siblings will cause misery. Resulting in the child's death and who knows what would happen to us. I will love you, but no more than as a sibling," he said quietly, staring into her hurt, golden eyes. She nodded silently. Razai left her room and made for his own. He could hear his sister sobbing in her room.

He awoke from another dreamless sleep. The morning light flooded his room with a golden brilliance. He made his way to his dresser and retrieved his new clothes. He would no longer dress as Fire Nation royalty but instead chose a simple black leather jerkin along with black pants with black, calf high plate boots and finally draped a dark red cloak that fell just to his heel. He would no longer tie his hair in a topknot, just keeping it combed and straight down. He wouldn't cover his wounded eye either. He had noticed black stubble growing from his chin and decided he would keep it. His eyes no longer glowed brilliantly like his siblings. The hot gold in his eyes had cooled and now no longer harbored any warmness. No smile would ever grace his visage either.

He left the palace, his red cloak flapped against the fair wind that was brought from a distant storm. Peasants, merchants and even noblemen lined the harbor, staring at _The Debauchery_ in fascination and fear. Razai was accompanied by royal guards, having disbanded the Mirror Guards the previous day. His boots clinked against the cobblestone of the road and then eventually gave way to the smooth, strong stone of the drydock. He turned to address his father and siblings, giving each a bow before he stepped onto the ramp leading to his flagship. A new flag was raised in place of the original Fire Nation emblem, a red phoenix against the night sky. He would be sure for people to know who he was if they intended to act against the Fire Nation.

With the bellow of the ship's horn, the vessel lurched forward and left the drydock. He looked towards the horizon, towards the rising sun but felt no heat rise from within him. All firebenders rise with the sun. Yet he did not.

 **End of the Prologue: Author's Notes**

 **I hope you enjoyed this so far. I debated on dragging out the prologue but decided against it. I enjoy creating my own scenarios more than I do replicating moments from the series. I will focus the next book on Razai's quest to unify the Earth Kingdom as a new province of the Fire Nation and his own personal journey to find Ursa.**

 **You may be wondering why I had Ozai as a less menacing figure. I based him on my own interpretations. I felt like his television character was incredibly static and I feel like he wouldn't be stupid enough to disregard his children unless absolutely necessary. I will portray him as a character with more regards towards his family name and legacy rather than specifically caring for his children as a father. I will also extend the timeline to make room for the development of the Fire Nation and introduce more political ploys and include individual noble houses that may come into combat with each other. I do not plan on having Sozin's Comet burn down the Earth Kingdom. I am still deciding what to do with it.**


	9. Chapter 9

The gargantuan vessel treaded water as easily as one might drive a knife through butter. The dark, restless waters parted and left an angry white foam in its wake. The rusty red ram of the ship rose high above the waters, glinting slightly in the light of a dreary, cloud smothered day, a light rain soon followed. He could feel the slight salt of the air whenever a quick gust of wind brought a lap of seawater up the side of the ship, the flag flapped in response. The Ship's flag was a normal, Fire Nation emblem but within the center, a grey dragon coiled, one black eye glaring balefully out into the living world.

He walked steadily along the side of the ship, past the creaking, black,metal trebuchets. Three stood adjacent to one another, their ropes wrapped around no flaming boulders but were still intimidating none the less. They were three times the height of a soldier and at least five men could stand abreast between one side of the siege engine and the other. He walked towards the bow of the ship, eying its figurehead. Swimming atop the rusty red waters of metal, a black dragon with red jeweled eyes roared with no sound as it stared into the mists. Within the mouth a steel pipeway crawled through the throat of the dragon and into the bowels of the ship, leading to a boiler room filled with tanks of napalmic liquid, waiting to be set alight.

He stared at the figurehead, it was detailed and impressive, the craftsmanship was expertly done. Small Fire Nation inscriptions adorned the scales of the metal beast, all the way to its neck. Its ears and nose were cold with the slight stain of grey, fire could erupt from the nostrils and ears if need be. It didn't do anything but serve as an intimidation factor, but he valued fear. Through fear, power is born. His dark leather riding boots tapped on the metal deck as he made his way back to the pagoda styled bridge. Before it was a beautifully made work of art, the multiple roofs were tiled with thin red brick and trimmed with gold but decided to have iit painted over with simple black and rustic red.

The hatch opened with creaks and moans then shut once more, leaving him in a cold corridor with pipes that ran on the ceiling serving whatever purpose he could imagine. The hallway was foreboding and depressing, a mist-like presence hung in the air, tinted red. He proceeded down the hallway and went up the stairwell towards the command tower, his footsteps bounced throughout the metal interior until they eventually receded. He opened the door into the command tower to see a lone man wearing long red robes looking into a periscope. He couldn't imagine what he could see considering the intense fog outside.

"Sang." Razai's voice cut through the cold, thick air, quiet, yet loud. The helmsman turned from his duties, bowing to Razai. The helmsman's face was long, pale with high cheekbones, hollow circles formed on either side of his mouth. Thin, short eyebrows that looked to be painted onto his head raised themselves at his presence. "My Lord," he replied quietly, bowing his head slightly, looking back out of the window. He walked with slow but long strides towards Sang, his cape fluttered behind him like wings. Sang's hair was unkempt and slightly tangled, grease shined his black locks that reached his neck. His scent was heavy and would have made the nose of another man wrinkle with disgust, but it didn't bother Razai. His dark brown eyes darted to different areas, looking for the slightest disturbance, but the fog was unyielding, leaving nothing to look at but a wall of whiteness.

The silence between the two men felt natural, no awkwardness or tenseness brewed between their lack of words. He was normally a quiet man, not feeling his words were necessary unless they carried information. He had seen most of the world, or at least, their coasts. He went from between the Fire Nation isles, the Earth Kingdom ports down to Whale Tail Island and even to both the poles. He was more a mercenary, sailing for soldiers, refugees, pirates and other types of men. To the protests of Zuko, he hired the mercenary regardless, valuing his experience over his loyalty, not that he was not loyal however, a good amount of gold could buy anyone, and he was not cheap.

"How long until we arrive at Hira'a?" Razai asked, turning his head away from the blank wall of white. Sang turned his head towards the Prince and found himself staring into the dark void that was his removed eye. The skin around his eye socket had grey, the nerves were destroy. He could see the faint outline of darkened veins that traveled into the pitch black socket, empty, yet it was as if something was still there. He tried his best not to stare but found it difficult when it seemed the black hole that was Razai's former eye stared into him, trying to find something behind his face.

He focused instead on his remaining eye but found its gaze equally unsettling. They colored gold, a sign of Fire Nation royalty. Sang was no firebender but even he knew that firebenders emanate their emotion and inner fire, the most seen in their eyes, but he saw not even the faintest flicker of heat, his eye had left the forge, the molten gold was now solid and cooled. They showed nothing but condemnation.

He couldn't find a single place to look at on the Prince that didn't frighten him and decided to stare at his own feet, lowering his head slightly. "A few hours if the fog permits. We won't be able to dock due to the size of the ship. I suggest a skiff," said the helmsman. Razai nodded and turned to leave. Sang had found he was holding his breath and released it in a heavy exhale after the Prince exited the command tower and returned his attention to the window.

Razai found his way to his quarters and sent his servant for food, a young, distant cousin of his. He inspected the room as best he could, often having to turn his head due to having his vision split. He eyed the portrait of his family, one done many years ago. Ursa and Ozai sat in simple wooden chairs. Zuko sat before Ozai, his father's large hand on his brother's frail shoulder while Razai and Azula were both sitting on their knees next to each other, hands entwined in front of their mother. He looked away from the picture when he felt his throat constrict, he didn't know why he kept that picture, perhaps to remind himself of what needed to be done. His bed, while not as spectacular and ornate as the one in his palace was quite comfortable. A thin, crimson silk sheet lay underneath a thick cloth blanket with a black Fire Nation emblem sewn onto the redness of the bedding.

He turned his head and proceeded to sit at his desk, eying the papers he had put off for the day. He retrieved one and began to read a report on a small Earth Kingdom castle town. The governor appointed by the general who had occupied the area had been overthrown, taken into the dungeons by the peasants and have begun to rule themselves, even so far as to claiming it a new country. "Hmph." He put the paper to the side and began to read through the Hira'a census, scanning for Ursa, finding nothing. He laid the paper on the desk, sitting up from his chair and undressed himself from his armor, putting on a simple red robe. His servant brought in his tray of food, a small hunk of steak and bread with steaming tea.

After finishing his dinner he went back to the desk and went through several papers, documents of varying sorts concerning the highly unstable former Earth Kingdom. He felt his eye grow heavy, it took considerable effort to keep it open until he found himself dozing off. He finally left for his bed, finding the bedsheets seductive as they beckoned him to rest. He allowed himself to lie under the covers, finding them heavy. Within a few minutes, his eyes slid shut, ushering him into the memories of his childhood, as real as they had been before.

 _The white sand of the beach blinded Razai as he left the beach house, it was a modest but well furnished summer home that his father had inherited from Azulon who had in turn inherited from Sozin who had gotten it from a friend, a friend his father would not disclose. He took in the salted, warm air that blew his hair up ever so slightly._

 _He took a small stepping stone covered path onto the beach and sprinted towards the water which was bright blue, contrasting beautifully with the pearlish sand. He felt the water rush around his ankle and gritted his teeth with a silly half-grin, it was cold. He took slower steps into the water, minding the waves that crashed about ten feet or so out in the ocean. He stood there, eyes shut, breathing in the pure air, he was happiest when he was on Ember Island with his family._

 _That happiness disappeared quickly when he felt two hands shove him into the freezing, salty water. His eyes stung and the water rushed into his mouth, he was quick to sit back up, spitting the seawater out and rubbing his burning eyes. He heard the high pitched giggles of his sister. He rubbed his eyes and feigned tears. Azula approached him hesitantly, minding the cold water, a look of concern on her face. He dragged his arms through the water and slammed a small wave of water onto her. Her face contorted with bitterness, like she had just suckled a lemon, when the cold water came into contact with her legs, arms, chest and face. Razai almost fell backwards laughing, he was sitting on his knees but ignored the slight uncomfortable friction of the sand and his skin._

 _But just as quickly as he had gotten back at her, she had begun to splash more water on him. They both adjusted to the water and found themselves waist deep in the ocean. "I have an idea!" said Razai as he looked at Azula. She looked at him curiously, "What?" she asked. "Here, let me hold you, this is a game I saw Zuko and one of his friends play at our pool," said Razai as he went to pick Azula up. He wrapped his right arm around her back and moved his left in between her calves and thighs. Razai had a face stretching grin on his face as he recounted the rules of the game. "So, you have to guess what color I am thinking of and if you get it wrong, I dunk your head under the water, if you get it right, I toss you in and then you do the same to me!"_

 _Azula smiled, nodding. White came to mind. "Orange?" she asked. She held her nose and closed her eyes as he dunked her face underwater. She came back up. "Red?" she asked, her response was another dunk. "Uh, uh, uh, black?" Her face was once more held under the water for half a second. However, when she came back up she squirmed and found his grip hard to maintain on her slippery skin. He found her slipping from his hands and saw her fall into the water. Her hand reached up, pulling his hair harshly, but not too painfully. He slipped on the sand and fell in himself. After a few moments of innocent struggling, they both came up laughing._

 _They walked out of the water, though it tried to pull them back as the waves receded and fell on the beach together dramatically. They laughed and laughed until they found themselves short of breath. They looked up to see their father and mother sitting in beach chairs under the shade of an umbrella, Zuko sitting with them building a sand castle. They both ran up to their parents and plopped down in the sand in front of them. They were all smiling, they were there as a family, and they were happy._

Razai awoke, not in sweat, not with lack of breath, he just woke up like normal. It was such a sweet memory, it was a good one, an innocent one. They were a family, mother and father were with each other happily, at least as far as he knew, Zuko was ten, me and Azula were eight and everything was normal. Azula and him hadn't developed those emotions at that time, they were just siblings, nothing more. He could of smiled, but he didn't. He felt his throat tighten when he thought of his mother, he wanted to find her so desperately but he reminded himself he had duties to attend to. He would spend no more than a few days in Hira'a, then he would handle the business in the former Earth Kingdom.

He had gotten more accustomed to half of his vision being black, it was irritating, but no longer did it affect him as harshly as it had before. He heard his door's metallic creak. He turned his head and saw his servant enter. "My lord, we have arrived just outside of Hira'a, there is a skiff awaiting you."

Razai nodded, the servant slipping back into the hall. He dressed himself with a dark red leather jerkin and put on his black plate with the dark red leather strips. He pulled on black leather breeches and then brown riding boots that came up above his calf. He threw his dark red cape around his shoulders, the coiled one eyed dragon was sewn beautifully in the center of the fine cloth. The two top edges of the cape were drawn close to one another across his left breast by a gold button the size of a small saucer, the flame of the Fire Nation embroidered on it.

He examined himself in the mirror, ignoring the blackened pit that was his left eye. His face was pale, paler than it had been even before his imprisonment. His cheeks had grown a tad hollow, dark shadows were casted from his cheekbones. The stubble under his chin had gotten a bit thicker, a thin black line of hair stretched from either side of his chin, a bit up to his lower lip, a small soul patch growing. He had his hair trimmed, it now fell to his neck, still long and thick, but not as it had been. He had refused to comb it, he washed it thoroughly but left it as it was, straight through and through, but with a mild curliness that wasn't very noticeable unless you studied his hair closely. Despite his slight unkempt physical appearance, he looked every bit as regal as he did before, maybe not as extravagant, but looked like nobility none the less.

It took him almost ten minutes to make his way down into his ship, turning into different corridors more times than he could count. He finally made his way to the fairly large chamber that housed five different skifs, all suspended on a metal cables that could drop them off onto a ramp that led out the back of his ship into the open waters. They were squat, square shaped ships the color of charcoal. They were fast ships by all accounts, their light mass and coal powered engine made them hard to outrun and they were small enough to go up river, large enough to carry a dozen men.

He inspected the four imperial firebenders he handpicked from the Royal Palace. He was to bring them ashore with him much to the protest of Sang who insisted he should bring a hundred men to shorten the search. "We are questioning the locals, not bashing down their doors and searching their homes," he had said to Sang.

The four guards wore bright red armor with cloth-of-gold straps that held each plate together over a sheet of mail. A golden dragon was embroidered with gold on their chestplate and they wore helms with two spikes that came out of the side of the helmet and one that reached the tallest at the top center of the helmet. A white, ashen face guard with two eye-holes covered their visage and protected them against the glare of the sun, water, sand, and other hazardous elements. He finally inspected the dark red cloaks that reached around their shoulders and hung from their collar bone, the one eyed dragon sewn into the center. He trailed his eye up and down their most impressive featurette, their Sun Spears. They were a rustic red staffs with beautifully artistic spearheads in the shape of a small flat sun disk made of polished gold with the blade emerging sharply in top of the disk.

He made ready to board the skiff which was now lowered onto the ramp, the bay doors now opened, god rays spilled into the dimmed lighting of the hangar and made the world outside the ship seem heavenly. As he climbed onto the ship his servant came running over, carrying a sword in his hand. How handed the sword to Razai who in turn released it from its scabbard. He had his previous black blade smelted down and resolved to have a simpler, yet no less deadly blade made. It was stainless steel with an mildly ornate golden hilt, a single red jewel place just below the blade. He nodded to his servant who had then stepped away, watching the skiff descend the ramp and slush into the water.

The skiff shuddered as the engine started, he felt himself lose balance for but a moment but recovered quickly. A single engineer shoveled coal into the burner then firebending, sending the skiff forward towards the island. He wore a welding mask covered his face but beads of sweat could be seen trickling down his exposed neck. Razai felt tempted to sit but felt it better to stand, looking back at his flagship. His personal guard stood frozen, two on one side of the skiff, two on the other. He removed the sword from the scabbard and waved it through the air. The balance was exquisite, but felt hard to maneuver. While he had recovered from his imprisonment in Ba Sing Se, he still needed to train and regain the muscle he once had. And since he couldn't firebend, he would have to train even harder, instead of focusing on bending, he would need to focus on his physical health and muscle development.

He watched the landmass grow closer. The shore was a shade of brown and white while the hills gave way to the lush green jungles that grew inland. The village of Hira'a grew closer, it was sizeable, possibly housing at least 300 people. The pier grew closer and he could see the stalls and boats of fishmongers, produce markets, and other artisans. The skiff came to a gentle stop next to the pier, followed by the engineer extending the metallic gangplank. He stepped off the boat, followed by his royal guards and eyed the peasants around him, who returned his gaze.

They stared at him in distrust, curiosity, and anxiety, they probably hadn't seen royalty before, much less than the cycloptic prince of the Fire Nation. He found their unwary gazes follow him as he walked down the dock and into the village itself. He found children staring at his dead eye socket but he paid them no mind, he was no doubt curious of wounds and deformities when he was a child. _You are still a child_ a voice in his head reminded him. He didn't feel young, he felt thirty years his senior and he wasn't sure if it was really a good thing or bad, only time would tell. He made his way through the village courtyard, a temple of Agni rose from the ground, made of cobblestone with stained glass windows depicting different events from Agni's mythos, while a semi-circular amphitheatre made of sturdy timber sat on the opposite end of the courtyard.

His head turned to see a fairly tall and wide building made of wood with a thatch roof, he presumed it to be the town hall. Two ornamental plants rose out of clay pottery on either side of the wooden stairs that lead into the building. Perhaps before, he would have been abhorred or less than stellar at the modestness of the village but he found it fairly nice to be in a town of honest people rather than the city of infinite schemes that was the Capital.

His guards stayed at his side as he proceeded to tap the door with his knuckles lightly, waiting for a few moments until the door creaked open. A balding, elderly man wrapped in grey linen stepped into the light and stared out the door, seemingly past Razai. "I have come here to look for someone," he said simply. The old man nodded and extended a hand inward, allowing Razai and his guards entrance first. It was a simple, yet large cabin with a circular rotunda towards the back of the building lined with seats, no doubt for town meetings. "May I get you some tea?" the elderly man said.

"You may," said Razai, watching the shaking old man wobble over to a small table with a pot of cold tea. The man's hands trembled from age as he put the pot over a small fire, his hands were pale and thin, veins and bruise-like spots dotted his skin, making it obvious that he was fairly ancient. "I'd...like...to know who I am making tea...for," he said.

His voice was hoarse and seemed to crack as he spoke some words, he sounded to be out of breath, even when doing nothing. The elder poured the steaming tea into a cup and offered it to Razai, who took it in his hands, the man sitting down slowly, almost checking to see if there was a surface to rest on.

"So...what brings you here?" he asked when he finally sat on the wooden bleacher."I would know your name, if you'd oblige," said Razai as he eyed the old man. "Yau," he said simply. Razai sipped his tea then proceeded to speak. "I will not pretend to hide who I am, Yau. I am Prince Razai, third child of Fire Lord Ozai and Lady Ursa. I have come to ask about my missing mother, this was the village where she grew up in so I am told," said Razai as he watched the old man stare into the air blankly, that was when he noticed the milky texture that covered his eyes; he was blind.

The log of a fire snapped in half and sent a small eruption of embers into the air, the orange light casted odd shadows on the old man's face. His unseeing eyes disappeared into the shadows of his eye sockets; he looked like a skeleton.

The man seemed to sit there quiet and in deep thought for quite some time. Razai was growing impatient, but felt it rude to rush him. The man finally nodded his head. "Yes...Ursa...I remember her. Such a nice young girl...very soft spoken. She has not been seen in over ten years...not since your grandfather forced her betrothal to Ozai."

The old man spoke bluntly and did not add much detail. "Where was her house?" Razai asked in turn. "She lived...just outside the village...on the hill...north…" he said, taking his time to find his words. They spent the next many hours discussing the Ursa and eventually the hardships of the village and if they were making it along well. Razai at one point offered to double the supply ships that came to the island, saying it would make things easier but the elder politely refused, stating that hardship and toil breeds greatness. Razai couldn't disagree.

Razai set his tea down and stood up, his guards proceeded to the door. "Thank you for your time, Yau," said Razai, bowing his head slightly despite the old man's blindness. Yau bowed his head in turn and left for his room, taking great time to lift his legs to walk the steps.

Razai and his guards exited the town hall, greeted by the fairly bright moonlight and descended the wooden steps into the town center which was unsurprisingly vacan, a few souls went on to finish their nightly business but the majority were someplace else or asleep in their homes. He heard a thunderous roar of outrage emanating from the amphitheatre on the other side of the courtyard, lights were shining in the wooden archway which led inside.

He positioned his guard around him and took slow but long strides into the theatre which had gone silent, two voices had risen, reciting their lines. Despite the wooden exterior the theatre was quite well maintained past the entrance. Packed dirt gave way to smooth stone and the walls were supported by higher quality timber.

Razai's riding boots clopped against the smooth stone floor, echoing around the theatre. There were two actors on stage, one dressed in ornate red robes trimmed with bright gold and wearing a large red mask with white bushy hair pouring out the back edges of the mask. The other wore dark blue animal skin robes with an ugly blue and white mask, tusks rose from its lower lip and above its nose.

They both scoffed at the interruption and turned to see who had entered, annoyed. Though their faces were concealed, they both slightly gasped when they saw a one-eyed noble followed by his guards. He wore shining black plate with crimson straps slightly concealed underneath a fine. dark red cloak that was strapped to him above his left breast, held together by a circular golden disk with a small artistic dragon styled in the center. He was of the royal family.

When the crowd turned to regard what the actors saw, the nobleman simply walked up the oak stairs, sitting at the very top of the wooden bleachers, his guards standing adjacent to him. He sat in silence, waiting for the play to proceed. The actors regained their lost composure and proceeded with the scene in which the Dark Water Spirit poisons the Dragon Emperor, denouncing him a mortal and leaving him to perish beneath a peach tree only to be saved by a passerby, nursing him back to health; The Dragon Emperor even took his name when leaving the care of his savior, Noren.

He had watched this play countless times. He knew what would happen next and sat uninterested and bored, even during the scene in which Noren slays an entire army of Shangtze warriors; an exaggeration no doubt. He sat through the numerous gasps, cries, and laughter that was the crowd, eventually finding it hard for his eyes to remain open. However, the closing scene caught his attention. Noren, the Dragon Emperor mortalized, had embraced a mortal woman, and through her love, broke the chains of his imprisonment. Noren and the woman ascended to godhood as both the Dragon Emperor and Dragon Empress, slaying the evil Water Spirit and living happily ever after.

Despite the thunderous applause, Razai could only produce a small "Hmph" before sitting up, having been slouched up against the wall for a good hour and a half. "I'm tired of this, we'll find a place to sleep," said Razai as he got up from his seat, his guards nodded and trailed behind him. The crowd had begun to disperse and parted as his guards cleared the way. His boots slightly sunk into the loosely packed dirt as he walked further from the theatre. Men, women, and children walked beside him and the crowd slowly dispersed. Women brought their children inside their houses while the men proceeded to the local inn located on a small hill outside the village.

The path leading up the inn was crushed gravel that crunched with each time his booted feet came down. The lights of the inn were bright orange. The inn itself was modest enough, two stories of strong timber with a slanted wooden roof. The entrance to do the inn burst open and a stumbling man perhaps in his forties, was ushered out of the bright interior of the inn and moved down the hill. Alcohol and curses spewed from his drunken lips and more than once he had lost his balance until he finally fell against the side of a small thatched cabin, vomit dripping off his scruff covered chin.

Razai let out a grunt that replaced laughter and went inside. The scene was appalling. A copper chandelier hung from the ceiling with bright orange candles blazing out of control, fire erupted from the wax as a drunken firebender brought the flames up fiercer and brighter. Two brawny men were wrestling each other on a frail wooden table that groaned with every tumble and roll-over they performed, threatening to shatter under their weight. A trio of men swung their tankards about, alcohol of mixed origin spilt out the sides while they sang a jaunty tune about a barmaid and the Pirate King Jiek.

Razai's face did not show it but he was fairly amused by the scene, he felt the edge of his lips curl upward slightly but did not break into a smile or grin. He turned his head to the bartender who was frantically brewing and handing out tankards of alcohol to his very demanding patrons. He slid multiple tankards and cups up and down the table in a hurry as the customers demanded in a drunken fury.

The bartender was a thick man, not fat, but his cheeks were chubby and his head was balding, large bundles of hair grow on the side and back. His chest was fairly skinny but his body slowly curved outward towards his pear shaped belly that convulsed when he reached across the table towards an empty tankard, refilling it then pushing it back towards the customer.

Razai took long strides over to the emptiest corner of the inn, taking long strides, his black riding boots reflected the chandelier light as he sat down in a wooden booth attached to the wall, his legs concealed under the oakwood table. He looked down at the brown table to see scratches of various origin, each depicting different things, some were emblems of different nations and groups but one was a particularly exaggerated depiction of someone's manhood.

He sat there for some time, simply watching the inhabitants of the bar, it was quite more entertaining than the play. His guards stood silently in watch, glaring at many that drunkenly strayed too close to the Prince, many cursing at the guards then stumbling away, most to get more drinks, converse with others, or pass out in another room. He found relatively expensive looking glass of alcohol put in front of him, a thick, red, sweaty hand releasing its grip from it. He looked up and saw the bartender smiling at him, bowing his head to the Prince who returned the courtesy in kind. He was somewhat impressed that the bartender managed to get a special glass and drink for him, he didn't expect special treatment. The bartender rushed back to his place at the table and continued to flush out more drinks.

He raised the transparent glass to his lips and felt the warm, sweet, dark wine grace his tongue and flood down his relatively dry throat, this was a rare vintage it would eyed the bartender from his booth curiously. _Where did you manage to acquire something like this?_

His thoughts quickly vanished when he heard a unified "Hey!" and other greetings. He turned to look at the door to see a fairly tall, pale skinned woman enter, pitch black hair covered her head and right eye and draped to her upper back. He eyed the red tattoos that covered her biceps, swirls of red that looked similar to the Air Nomads emblem. She wore a sleeveless dark red leather tunic and black cotton breeches with black riding boots. He noticed the whip and iron shortsword that dangled on her belt as she walked towards the bar amidst greetings and drunken compliments, smirking and half-waving at people he assumed she knew.

She sat at the bar and waved for the bartender to bring her a drink while she examined her black painted nails, one was broken which she scoffed in disgust. A wooden tankard was pushed towards her, heavy beer sloshing in and around and out of the cup. She took a fairly long swig and slammed it on the table, pushing her black hair out of her eyes and smiling widely. Her dark red lips and pale skin reminded him of an all too familiar face he had left at home. _Stop. You didn't leave her, you said you'd be back_.

He found himself being stared at right back, his gaze was locked with hers. He waited for the slightly startled look that would come upon her when she noticed his eye but it never came before she smirked at him before turning back to the group of men that began to sit around her laughing and spitting out buzzed jargons. He felt light headed.

He looked down at his glass to see the smallest pool of red that swished around the bottom. He set the glass down and gestured for the bartender who was trying to escape the drunken grasps and insults of his customers. He almost stumbled forward when one particularly rowdy patron failed to let go of his shoulder when he slipped past the bar table, but caught himself on a vacant chair.

"How may I be of service, m'lord?" said the bartender. _M'lord_. He laughed internally at the statement. He gave the bartender the glass and sat up out of the table. "Do you have a spare room, perhaps? I have gold," said the Prince as he gestured his guards to stand by the stairway which had a man fallen asleep on the riggedy railing that groaned with every heavy snore that snorted from his nose. "Right up the stairs, third door down."

Razai nodded and proceeded up the stairs, his guards trailing behind him. His guards. What was he going to do with them? He looked back and eyed them thoughtfully. "Two of you may return to the ship if you so desire. Two of you will stand guard at my door, take shifts if you find rest hitting you hard," said Razai. The two guards nodded before heading back down the stairs and out the door, pushing an ignorant drunkard out of the way, sending him crashing into a table. He looked to see the pale woman staring at him with a slight smile on her lips. He glared back, his face unmoving before retiring to his room.

It was of modest means, a single small bed made of several sheets to make it soft and a thick brown animal skin blanket on top. He looked to the left to see a small desk against the wall, a candle sat on top, cold. He felt the floor shake more than once along with loud, aggressive shouts followed by cheers, a fight, he guessed. He removed his cloak and draped it on the wooden chair placed in front of the desk and removed both his boots, feeling cramped pain shoot throughout his foot as he placed it on the floor, then taking off the other boot. He sat on the bed as he removed his armor and underclothes before lying back, naked. He looked down at himself, he was skinny. Too skinny. He would start to eat more and get into an exercise routine, he had to remind himself of that.

He found the quaint bed a bit small but comfortable none the less and found his eyes slowly shutting, the shouts and cheers of the bar slowly distancing himself until it faded to nothing.


	10. Chapter 10

**Sorry for this less than stellar chapter, I just wanted to get an introduction out of the before the real action starts. Enjoy!**

 _His bare feet slapped against the stony floor, cockroaches, ants, beetles and other bugs scurried away in a hurry as his steps quicked. He could hear it, back there, down the hallway, it was getting closer. Despite his fastened pace, he could hear its humming and groans swirling down the hallway, crawling into his ears. He began to run, the humming was getting louder, his footsteps began to become wet as he waded through black water that lapped against his ankles. He looked down to see his reflection._

 _He was dangerously thin, little more than a skeleton covered in thin, almost transparent skin. He felt a scream rise from his throat as he saw the small circular orb stare at the back of his head, the humming was now deafeningly loud. His screams stopped, as did his breathing and all bodily movements, even his eye. It just stared straight forward, into the black corridor, the darkness seemed to seep forth in groping tendrils that slithered and writhed towards his frozen body. He saw the faintest flicker of movement in his peripheral vision, just a shadow. He soon found himself staring into the frozen solid gold of a floating eye. The eyeball was bloodshot, red veins throbbed angrily in the surrounding whiteness._

 _The eye drifted closer to him, towards his socket. He wanted to reach out and grab it, stuff it into his skull, but his hand remained unmoving. The eye just brushed against his brow before it darted into the darkness down the hallway, disappearing._

His eye snapped open to reveal the pale moon rays spilling into his dark room. His chest heaved and sweat trickled down his forehead. He glanced around his room, expecting to see the eye there, glaring at him. He did see an eye, but it was not his own. He felt his hand instinctively reach for his sword. He felt his fingers wrap around the hilt before his wrist was jerked away by a small rope of some sort that followed a loud _snap._ His heart was beating wildly, pumping blood throughout his body, blood he should be using to run or fight but he just found himself staring at the dark silhouette the eyes belonged to.

"I'll release your arm if you promise not to reach for your sword again." The voice was feminine yet low, full of arrogance but truth. He nodded to the concealed woman who in turn, allowed Razai to uncoil the whip wrapped around his wrist which was now glowing red with spots of angry blood. He glared at the woman still concealed in the dark, the brown eye still gazing at him, studying him, moving up and down his body which was only partially concealed under the covers.

He sighed and slightly gritted his teeth. "I will not feign fearlessness and act unsurprised. How did you get in here?" he asked the woman. "Through the window," she said simply before sitting up from the chair and walking into the moon's white rays. Her pale skin glowed brightly in the moonlight, almost glaringly. Razai opened the top drawer of his nightstand and pulled out a small match, scraping it against the wooden bed then lighting a candle. Despite being only a small source of light, it illuminated the room, casting an orange cover against the pale woman.

She raised her brows at his action curiously, crossing her arms across her chest. "You're Fire Nation royalty, why didn't you just light the candle with your bending?" she asked, her tone even and just a bit bored. Razai remained silent and glared at the intruder who was standing only just from the foot of his bed.

She had seen quite a lot of things in the ten years that she had traveled. Many frightening people many odd folk but this teenager was terrifying in his own way. She didn't mind the missing eye, she had seen much worse but his remaining one was more disturbing than that opposite blackened pit. She had met royalty of the Fire Nation before, specifically the banished prince, and they all had blazing golden eyes that seemed to bubble and shift with certain liquid-like properties, but his eye did not. It was stern, cold, and inquisitive and revealed no inner fire.

He continued to stare at her, hardly blinking. Her hair was black enough to blend into the dark wooden walls of his room, despite the orange light the candle cast. She had changed her clothes from her traveling gear and wore a sleeveless black tunic of cloth. "I assume you came in through the window," said the Prince sternly as he set the candle on the nightstand and reached for his folded robes that sat in the drawer. He waited for the woman to look away but she never once took her eyes off of him. "It is common courtesy from where I am from to turn away when someone means to change," he said impatiently.

The woman chuckled lightly, the sound was strangely alluring for Razai, reminding all too much of someone he had known. "You have nothing that I haven't seen, boy, but, if it makes you feel better, I'll turn." The woman revolved on her heel, her bare feet seemed to glide above the firm wooden floor and stared into the dim wall, tapping her foot lightly while Razai pulled on a red cotton shirt and loose fitting black pants before she turned around to see Razai walking out of his room, hand extended towards her.

She scoffed but took his hand regardless, it was warm yet cold. His feet slapped against the wooden floor with each step he took. He descended down the stairs while lightly holding her hand, courtly. "Here, sit," he said quietly. The bar was completely empty side from his guards who followed them from his room, Sun Spear's held in hand, ready to lash out at her if need be.

She mock bowed to Razai then took her seat at the booth he had requisitioned only last night, chuckling at the carvings on the wooden table. She watched him pour a strong brown alcohol into two tankards, she could smell its bitter spice from here. "So," he said while walking over to her. "Do you know who I am?" he said as he took a seat, watching her drink heavily from the tankard. The liquid dripped off her thick, dark red lips, she was very attractive despite her birth, which, he assumed, couldn't have been very high up in the social ladder.

"No. I've met your brother though. He had scar, right?" she said as glanced around the bar, trying to avoid his singular, slightly disturbing gaze. His rubbed his fingers together and felt the edges of his lips curl ever so slightly. "Many men have scars," he said while taking in her silky, reflective black hair. "Yeah but he had one on over his left eye, red and angry, not like yours," she said as she looked at his blackened eye socket. Razai moved two fingers reflexively across the dead skin, he still hadn't truly gotten over the loss of his eye, it still bothered him and made him a bit self conscious. "Yes...his was by a burn, mine was poked a bit too much," he said with a noise emanating from his throat, similar to a chuckle. He, for the first time, lifted the tankard to his lips and let the strong drink slip past his lips and down his throat, burning intensely enough for him to choke slightly.

She laughed aloud at his reaction and lifted the tankard to her mouth once more before seeing the Prince waiting for her to lower it, which she did. "I'd like to know what you were doing in my room while I was asleep," he said while staring at her. "I was interested in you," she said in curtly. She spied his lips curling upward slightly, but it never evolved beyond that, much to her disappointment. "Interested in me?" he asked, amused. "I've been to this inn more time than I can count for as long as I have been traveling. I've known every single face in this town for the past ten years and not once have I seen a noble. I'd like to know what you're doing here and I am willing to offer my services if you are willing to pay," she said, meeting his gaze for the first time.

He "Hmph'd" at this and raised the tankard to his lips once more, ignoring his tightening throat. "And what would your 'services' include. Warming my bed?" he said amused. She laughed and ran her pale, skinny fingers through her thick hair. "No, I can only assume you're looking for someone here, why else would someone of your status be in an out of the way village like this?" she said. Razai moved his eye towards the window, a very small ray of orange light was bursting over the oceanic horizon, at least he slept for the better part of the night. "You're too smart for your own good. What is your name and how might you help me find the person I seek?" he said as he stood up.

She smirked and extended her hand towards him, making him raise his eyebrows slightly before taking her hand. She was warm. He thought she would be cold for some odd superstitious reason he couldn't name, but she was warm and her skin was soft. They both went outside, greeted by a cold, humid morning, clouds of fog drifted like floating white whales across the thatched roof tops of the village cabins. Dew hugged at the tops of each blade of grass. He shivered when he felt his bare feet collide with the cold wetness of the blades of grass, slightly itching his feet. "June," she said while looking forward. June, what an odd name.

She led him by his hand behind the inn and showed him to a small stable, a simple shack with two stalls big enough to hold perhaps two horses each. She let out a sharp whistle, the stable rattled in response, dust falling off the door while something on the other side banged against it. After the third or fourth smack, the door burst open and large four legged creature bounded from the stall. He hadn't even blinked and the creature was already upon him, it was covered in light brown fur, a patch of dark fur went from its head and down its back, down to its bushy, unkempt tail. He eyed the creature with a mixture of fear and surprise, and a bit of curiosity.

He noticed the lack of eyes on the creature and then the over developed snout with a collection of short, pink, fleshy tendrils that surrounded the flaring nostrils that expanded and imploded as it sniffed me.

"This is Nyla, a shirshu. She could track a flea on the other side of the earth and can without a doubt find the person you are looking for," she said while rubbing the creature's snout affectionately. The creature's mouth hung open with damp, saliva ridden hair drooping from below its lips, its dart like tongue lolled and slithered through the creature's dagger shaped teeth. He opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted when an ear piercing shriek echoed down from above them. He looked up in the darkish blue void, the orange light of the dawn was pushing back the darkness back across the sky.

A hawk swooped down and landed on Razai's shoulder, his talons digging uncomfortably into Razai's thin skin. He pulled a small scroll from a scabbard slung across the hawk's red feathered back. He found the creature's graceful and beautiful to look at, they had pinkish faces with long drooping mustache like fur that fell to its stomach. He eyed the goldish seal, a golden dragon that coiled about the small circular hardened wax. He tore the wax seal from the paper, careful not to tear and read the note.

 _Fire Prince Razai, third child of the Fire Lord,_

 _We had heard of your intent to stabilize the Earth Kingdom Provinces, we beg of you to postpone your plans. Pirates from Northern Huang have become bolder. More than once have trade ships been pillaged under the cover of night, cutting off supplies from The Grey Snake, we must ask for your intervention._

 _Captain Xe of Frostspire_

Frostspire, The Grey Snake, two very uncomfortable outposts in the Northern Earth Kingdom. Frostspire was little more than a tower of cold metal off the coast of the North Pole while The Grey Snake was a collection of metal buildings built into the side of the Huang-She mountains. He sighed and stuffed the message into his robe pocket. "Come, I will give you your first payment," he said before returning to the inn. The stairs shook slightly as he quickened his pace, they creaked and groaned in protest as his feet stamped on each stair, June striding quietly behind him. His guards hadn't moved at all. Sometimes he questioned if they were normal humans.

He practically ran into his room and opened the chest, grabbing his clothes and armor, setting them on his bed. He dug into his jerkin's pocket and retrieved a rather small bag of golden dragons, the most expensive currency in the world. He tossed the bag to June who had looked at the bag in disgust, not knowing the contents of the bag, it could be coppers for all she knew. "Twenty golden dragons, this should last you a few months for whatever you need." June's eyes widened for a few moments then settled, she smiled deviously at him. "Head down to the docks and wait for me, we'll be there shortly," he told her while putting his gear on.

The charcoal skiff bounced idly on the rather clear water of the docks, a few gulls stood on the edges of the skiff's roof, watching Razai and his guard approach. June laid against three stacked crates, Nyla curled up next to her, snoring softly. The guards armored steps alerted her, her eyes shot open and she sat up, stretching. "Is this the ship you plan on using?" she asked teasingly. He let out a short amusing grunt before walking past her, pointing out a small black rectangle on the horizon.

The pier groaned slightly at the weight of all of them. It wasn't poorly made but he wasn't sure four fully armored soldiers and an animal larger than a bear were meant to walk on it. He sent the four guards onto the skiff first and beckoned for June who stepped onto the boat. "What about your animal?" he asked curiously. She looked back and waved her hand in dismissal. "She can swim," she said as she sat onto the metallic bench built into the skiff.

The boat moaned and with a blast of steam and a whoosh of spray, it surged from the island's bay towards _The Debauchery_ which sat idly in the water, a floating fortress. The shirshu silently swam next to the vessel, occasionally coughing up water with a scratchy yack. His guard's bright armor caught the sun's light, but their Sun Spears almost seemed to literally drain the light, making the tips of their weapons glow brightly with an unnatural light. More than once he caught himself staring at June who was looking at the growing metal island that was _The Debauchery_. Her pale skin reflected the sun's glare, making her glow white and angelic, he was slightly concerned how infatuated he was with her. They finally arrived at the flagship, the sun was practically setting. How long had they been on the skiff? It couldn't have been a whole day, he thought. He quickly reminded himself of sandbars and reefs from which they had to avoid, and they were spread out around the island like a maze.

The skiff rounded about the massive ship and was hoisted into the docking bay by chains. After leaving the skiff, he sent his guards away and proceeded to the bridge, June tailing behind him. Nyla slopped up the ramp out of the water and shook wildly, tossing damp fur and water throughout the crewmen were very wary of the shirshu but it did little but grunt and snort at anyone foolish enough to approach it. "Quite the metal beast you have here, Razai," said June as she walked beside him, looking around the dark metallic corridors despite there being not much to look at. "Don't lie, it's very dull. And I would have to agree with you," Razai said while rounding the corner, leading to the stairwell. June chuckled lightly and brushed the hair out of her eyes. For the first time, he saw her right eye. It was emerald green, tiny crystal-like formations glimmered and shimmered like a bundle of jewels, he almost stumbled as her eyes darted towards him, squinting as she laughed at him.

He felt his face flush slightly but kept an even expression, he was after all, still a teenager. He knew he couldn't help these hormone-induced emotions and lusts, but he did his best to act older than he was. Hell, he felt older than he was.

"So, how old are you, kid?" she asked as they climbed the metal stairs, clinking and clanking with each footstep. "Sixteen," he said simply, keeping his head slightly elevated, watching the next floor grow closer to them. She whistled with surprise. "You look almost twenty," she said while she eyed his body. He was thin, a bit too thin, and fairly short, but he still had a few years to grow. His face was long and he possessed an attractively sharp jawline. Short strands of black hair grew from his chin and slightly up his jaw, making him look older. "You're too skinny," she said, chuckling lightly. He grunted in response.

"You never did tell me how you lost your eye," she said, trying to continue the conversation. She was genuinely interested in his injury. He was unlike most people she had met who lost an eye, and that was quite a few considering her profession. Normally one would wear an eyepatch or get a fake eye but he wore his injury proudly, almost daring anyone to mock him. "I was imprisoned at one point. They shattered my wrist and broke my arm then stuck a hot metal rod through my eye," he said boredly, almost as if he had rehearsed the sentence.

After a few minutes of nothing but their feet banging against the metal floor, she sighed. "Don't you want to ask how old I am?" she said with genuine curiosity. He sighed as they reached the top of the stairwell, walking towards the metal door that led to the bridge. "How old are you?" he asked, not really caring. "Twenty-three," she said, smirking at him while he opened the door. She eyed a fairly tall man in simple red robes, staring out the window. She started in but Razai stopped her with his hand. "Sang, set your course for Frostspire, we have business to attend to," he said. The man nodded and after a series of lever pulls and gauge adjustments, the ship rumbled to life. Metal vibrated and groaned, smoke bellowed from the enormous smokestacks that rose into the sky, and the ship lurched forward, slowly at first but picking up speed every second. Razai turned from the bridge, June following him.

"I'll show you where you'll be staying," he said while stepping down the stairs fairly quickly. Even with a quickened pace, it took them quite some time to reach her room. He allowed her to go in first. It was a cold metal cabin with a fairly large bed, sheets and covers folded up on the foot, a bolted down chest sat at the foot as well. There was a grey metal hearth on the other side of the room, built in to the wall with a pile of firewood next to it. She entered the room and dropped onto the bed, staring at the ceiling. "It's been a few months since I've slept in an actual, _comfortable_ , bed. Made out of cloth and silk and not just...straw and fur." He watched her close her eyes and smile while groping the bed with her pale fingers.

"I have a request of you, June," he said. June looked up and nodded at him. "I am in probably the poorest state of health since I was released from the prison and I need someone to train with. I have been in combat before, _actual_ combat, fighting without my firebending, and I couldn't really say I was killing with finesse or skill, just hacking, jabbing and slicing like some Water Tribe Barbarian," he said the last words with disgusted contempt.

June looked at him curiously before sighing and sitting up. "Alright. It's been awhile since I've had a sparring partner. Other than my bounties of course, and, well, it's not like they had a choice anyway" she said with a smirk. "We'll start tomorrow morning then. Sleep well," said the prince before leaving her in her room. She undressed and looked at herself in the mirror. She eyed the two plump, teardrop shaped breasts that hung from her chest, as pale as the rest of her body, she sighed as she traced her black nail along the curve of her breast. She lowered her eyes as she examined her abdomen and legs, looking for any blemishes, finding none. Her hips were wide in contrast to her slim torso. Her thighs were thick and creamy, slightly touching each other at the thickest point, leaving a small heart shaped opening between her upper legs and her intimacy which was well trimmed despite her being on the move most of the times. She sighed and walked over to her bed, feet sliding across the smooth cold floor. She laid her bare body against the bed and covered herself in the silky sheets, finding the softness and warmness unbearably alluring. She found her eyes shutting, eventually soft snores escaped her slightly parted lips, ushering her into a peaceful sleep.


	11. Chapter 11

**Bit short but I wanted to make up for the few days wait. Enjoy!**

June's eyes snapped open when she heard a metallic knock on the door. "W-wait!" she said groggily, flinging the sheets off of her and struggling to get clothes for herself. She frantically threw a sleeveless cotton shirt over her head and pulled loose fitting black pants on, hopping towards the door as she struggled to stick her foot through the opening. With a groan, she opened the door and faced Razai, a neutral expression on his face while waiting for her to follow him. He was dressed in a dark brown rough-spun tunic and red leather pants, he held two steel swords in his hands, their edges had been dulled enough for safe practice, relatively.

She sighed, bringing her hand to her head, pushing the black strands of hair that fell below her eyes back. She nodded finally and retrieved her own short sword and whip from the chest at the foot of her bed and followed Razai throughout the ship's catacombic corridors until they finally reached a secluded but wide open training room with red padded flooring and lined with racks of numerous types of weaponry that were demoted enough to be safe to practice with: Yari, kanabo, dau, longswords, and much more.

"Alright, so what weapon do you prefer?" she asked bluntly as she examined the racks of weapons. Razai's eye followed her as she strutted about, examining the training room. "Swords," he said simply.

"One handed, two handed or dual?" she asked while turning around to observe him.

"One handed," he said at once. She shook her head in disappointment, much to his confusion.

"You need to practice things you're bad at. You should learn everything there is to know about weaponry and fighting, use tactics that your opponent doesn't know about. Considering you're going to be spending quite some time in the former Earth Kingdom, it is imperative that you become unpredictable. Unpredictability is the deadliest weapon you can use against foes," she said as she lashed out at him with her short sword, which unfortunately for him, was not dulled.

He felt his right arm come up instinctively to block her blade. He felt the vibrations of the colliding steel resonate up the weapon and into his arm, _Agni was she strong._ He stepped back a few paces as she tip toed towards him in a brutal offensive, jabbing and slicing at wherever he stood. "Might...I remind y-you… that you are u-using a sh-sharpened blade!" he said, struggling to get the words out as she began to twirl her blade around her fingers while attack him, quick clangs of metal followed as she quickened her attacks. She just smirked and nodded towards the idle blade in his left hand.

He immediately brought it up as she swung her short sword in a downward arc towards his face, his two blades formed an "X" as her blade collided with both of his, sending a quick flash of sparked from the impact point. He actually smirked at her, she responded with a slug to his jaw, resulting in his collapse, falling to his back. She pointed the blade towards his neck and smirked at him. His lip had burst from the hit and a small line of blood trailed down his chin, leaving tiny dew-like drops of crimson shining on his stubble.

"Many would call that dishonorable in combat," he grunted while pulling himself to his feet. June laughed humorlessly. "It doesn't matter if it's honorable or not, you'd be dead and I'd be walking away with no injuries. And don't just keep defending yourself, you'll be backed into a corner and you'll just tire yourself out, find an opening and force your opponent to go on the defense," she said while resuming a combat stance. He felt his arms slightly ache as he brought his dual longswords about, they were fairly uncomfortable in his hands, making his forearms throb and wrists growl in resentment as he swung at her.

She brought up the short sword to block his right armed attack but did not prepare herself for his left sword which was swinging towards her neck. She let off from her defense and rolled backwards, looking up only to see Razai bounding towards her, swinging his swords from both sides. She ducked underneath his pincer-like attack and brought up her foot to kick him in the jaw. He cursed when he felt his teeth mash his tongue when her foot continued its unburdened path up his face.

She smiled slightly and backed off, letting him lick his wounds. "You are relying too much on your weapons and not enough on your body. Just because you are using two swords, doesn't mean you're completely helpless to catching your opponents off guard, use the hilt of your sword to punch, nothing hurts worse than having an steel bash you in the balls," she said while chuckling. He was getting frustrated, his arms howled in defiance and the aches became worse as he brought his swords to bear once more.

With renewed vigor, he swung his swords savagely towards June who had begun to back pedal desperately as his swords began to bash against her own blade more often and much harder, despite his growing fatigue. He grunted and growled in a primal anger as he begun to swing at her as if his swords were clubs. She was desperately bringing her blade out in different directions, blocking his dual training swords which he began to twirl and swing haphazardly, confusing her. She was desperate for an opening at which she might be able to switch to the offensive, her eyes darted around, watching his quick swings and jabs and finally found what she was looking for. He raised both swords a prepared to swing them in a wide arc aiming for her side, that was when she lightly kicked his knee, removing his balance, then swung the side of her hand at his face, sending him reeling to the ground, a small trail of red dripped from his mouth, a shining puddle of blood began to pool on the foam floor.

"Don't always think that you have to do perfectly orchestrated dodges and rolls, sometimes just letting yourself fall could save your life," she said as she offered him her hand. His arms slightly trembled as she pulled him from the ground, he was going to be incredibly sore the next day. "Let's go again," she said while raising her shortsword to bear. The clashes of steel and the moans and groans of pain and discomfort resonated throughout the training room, he began to slow in his attacks and defence as the hours lopped along, eventually finding himself unable to keep his sword in his hand as she swung at him.

Sweat and small amounts of blood intermingled and dripped down Razai's skin as he approached June who was also quite tired from their training. "I think we're done for today, we've been here for a few hours," she said, despite there not being a window or clock to see. He nodded and arranged his swords on the weapon rack then left the training room, June following suit. "You know, you weren't half bad despite you saying you had no training," she said. He could feel the muscles in his legs spasm slightly with each painful step he took, but it was a good pain. He had missed the feeling of sore muscles, it always meant that he had done something that day that required his full effort. "I was in combat once before, in an actual battle," he said. He gritted his teeth when he pushed open the door to his room, the heavy metal hatch had gotten harder to move.

June eyed him curiously, he hadn't seemed like the type to participate in combat. He collapsed on his bed and stared at the ceiling, looking at the numerous bolts driven into the grey metal. "In battle...when you have thousands of people surrounding you, brushing up against you…you don't have to be good. I was using a sword and shield at the time, skill doesn't matter when you hack at people in tight spaces," he paused and inhaled, smirking slightly, as if he was remembering a fond, childhood moment. "I killed at least thirteen that day, a lot didn't even know I was attacking them or had the chance to fight back," he said before looking up at June who in turn was staring down at him.

She smiled slightly and sat in a wooden chair next to the bed, she felt a distinct pressure that was building in her legs release as she diverted her weight to the chair; she was sore as well. "You like to kill?" she asked thoughtfully. He looked up at her, eyebrows raised in surprise. "I think everyone has a desire to kill. It's a pleasure not many admit to relishing in," he said while examining her emerald eye, it was entrancing. "Yes, I like to kill," he said simply. She shrugged and laid back on her chair, arms crossed behind her head. "I do too. Though in my profession I am not really supposed to kill my targets," she said, glancing down at Razai. For once, he looked like a teenager. His mask of sternness and humorless personality was discarded, replaced by a young man's inner thoughts.

She found herself staring at him for several seconds, far longer than she should have. She sighed and sat up out of her chair. "We'll be training every morning for as long as I am in your employment, if you're too sore for sparring, well...we'll figure something out," she said. He nodded in compliance and began to take off his boots, at which she walked from his room.

He stripped the rest of his clothes off and folded them neatly on the floor, awaiting a servant to come fetch them in the morning. He fell back against the bed and felt whatever strength he had left literally drain from him. He found his thoughts drifting towards June. She had been a good teacher so far, the way his muscles ached let him know that he had done something right. She was teaching him to fight and _win_ in combat, not fight and let the gods decide who should win. Granted it wasn't honorable to punch your opponent in the groin but where he was going, he couldn't afford to let his battles be decided through _honor_. No, he had to win. He felt his eyelid become like lead, despite his efforts to combat the feeling of weariness, he felt himself drift into a peaceful sleep. Not one plagued by dreams, nightmares, or memories, but a sleep where he saw nothing but blackness.

The air had turned cold, bitter, and sharp. The waters were grey and choppy, tips of white foam spiraled into the air from small waves. The clouds smothered the sky and turned the whole world grey, shards of broken ice and small glaciers no larger than a table broke upon _The Debauchery_ 's charcoal stern. A thin coat of frost layered the ebony dragon that stared into the horizon, tiny extravagant crystals glittered as the ship treaded the tumultuous, callous looking waters, reacting to what little light broke through the clouds.

Razai was wrapped in a black cloak, brown and black fur of various animals intertwined near his upper back and shoulders while a thinner black material drooped behind his feet, trailing perhaps a few inches or two behind him. Regardless, he was miserable. He could tolerate the cold when he had his firebending, it was possible to heat his body up and combat the elements but without it he had to make due with what he had. He glanced down at the scabbards that hung from either side of his hips, his gold engraved sword rested on his right while a newer blade fresh from the forge hung from his left. He slid the new blade from its hold and ran it along his gloved leather hands. It was a dark steel with tiny ornamental dragons that slithered up the length of the blade, breathing a cold grey fire into the tip. He would name both the swords his _Fangs_ , neither would ever leave the other if he could do anything about it.

He felt very out of place, he wore a thick, long sleeved leather cuirass stained dark brown with a silver dragon embroidered on two wide crossing straps. His pants were of thick black cotton and he wore dark brown riding boots that came up above his calves. He looked around to see all of his men wearing their normal clothing, he envied them, he would give anything to just heat himself. He was the only one who wore winter clothing, aside from June. _June_.

Three weeks had passed since their first training session, three weeks since they left Hira'a, three weeks since he had postponed the search for his mother. Granted, his mother wasn't his main mission, he had duties to attend to in the Earth Kingdom, to his family, yet he wanted nothing more than to identify the fate of his mother, perhaps he would be at peace, even if he had discovered her potential demise. He sighed and leaned against the steel railing that lined the sides of his ship, Agni, he could feel the cold through his thick sleeves, it bit into his skin the longer he held his arms there. He grunted in frustration and moved away from the railing, deciding to pace along the deck, staring into the distance, he could make out the tiniest interruption of the smooth horizon, a small black dot.

"What's that?" said the feminine voice of June. He felt his heart leap slightly, he hadn't heard her approach. He turned to her, she wore a thick padded leather tunic and skin tight black pants, he couldn't tell the material, and similar riding boots to his own. Her pitch black hair cascaded down her head and shoulders, her bright green eye studied the distant figure curiously, he found it hard to look at her in both of her eyes, her other eye was of chestnut, beautiful, but it didn't fascinate him like the deep greenness of her other eye. "It's the Frostspire, an outpost off the coast of the North Pole. Very undermanned from what I've been told," he said, almost to himself.

"And...what are we going to do there?" she asked, now turning her gaze towards him. He had gotten taller, if only just a bit, perhaps an half an inch. His face had become fuller, not thin and gaunt as it had been, and the same could be said for the rest of him. The past few weeks of exercise had made him a bit more defined, the smallest traces of thickening muscle pulsated against his skin, at least when they trained. He was much better than he had been, he could now train longer without tiring and now wielded his swords with much more finesse and grace, swinging the blades around lightly instead of chopping and hacking.

"Apparently, pirates have gotten braver, they've been attacking Fire Nation cargo ships at night. Very troubling," he said while looking out at the frigid waters. He felt a moistness grow his cheek, he looked up to see tiny, almost transparent snowflakes drifting along with the ship. He watched a fairly large iceberg drift past. "I am concerned at how pirates could challenge the Fire Navy. Cargo ships they may be but they aren't defenseless, how could they let this happen?" June chuckled to herself. "You'd be surprised how easy it is to capture one of your ships. Big and metal they may be but they aren't invincible," she said. "With a small, trained, and stealthy crew, it'd be fairly easy to incapacitate the crew and take what's on board," she said thoughtfully while staring at the growing object in the distance.

"Have you ever been to one of the Pole's, June?" he asked after a long period of silence.

"No. Too cold," she said simply. He chuckled in response.

"I've never been myself but I have heard stories," he said while examining a soft snowflake that rested in his leather wrapped palm. "A veteran of the war, nearly sixty-seven years old had been invited to the Palace. He wasn't a general, admiral or anything, just the second lieutenant in the...seventh division I believe. He served faithfully, never complaining, questioned orders every now and then but what competent soldier wouldn't," he smiled to himself when he realized he was going off topic. "He had been to the Pole's. Both of them. He had put his hand my shoulder and smiled warmly to me and said, 'For your sake, you'll never have to visit those ice-swirling hells. The first night we were there, it wasn't terrible, we had food, water, enough wood to last us a few nights until we had to restock, and so we sat there, an entire night, in our warm little tents, telling our warm little stories...safe from the occasional gusts of wind that would beat against our shelter. And then...and then the second night, the sun had left us early, the dark crept over the sky while we sat in front of our fires, drinking, eating, laughing for a few hours until it went out, blown down by a nasty swirl of wind. We looked up to see the entire world dark, we could only make out each other from only a inches away, and even then we couldn't tell who was who, and that was when the blizzard came…" Razai recited as he stared into the dark waters, looking at his reflection.

He exhaled and continued. "Imagine being in complete darkness. Complete darkness with the screams of voices you've never heard in your life before piercing your ears. Imagine being punched over and over again, all over your body and you can't even see who is punching you. Imagine having a shard of ice dig into your neck because you forgot to pull your collar up, I lost one of my mates that way, his blood froze in his neck before it even left his body. He died a few hours later from choking on his own frozen fluids. Lucky for us, or, me, at least, that we only ended up staying two nights a few hours from a Water Tribe village. We weren't supposed to leave our encampment but my friend Ren had died from exposure," said Razai.

He could hear the old soldier's voice choke and see his throat tighten as he had once told the young Prince his story. "We didn't even realize he had died, we were all huddled together in one tent, holding each other, trying to keep the one next to us warm and when I turned to look at his face, his eyes were open, covered in frost. His skin had turned a pale blue and his mouth was sewn shut, covered with ice. I screamed at him, telling him to wake up. I tried to firebend but found that my flames were immediately snuffed out" he said.

June found herself entranced in this story, terrified, but interested. "We found ourselves with little to do but die one by one until I picked up Ren's body and left the tent. He was stiff, his limbs didn't bend like they should when you die, I just carried him with my own two hands while he laid across them like he were in bed. I didn't notice the other men follow me but I could see their black figures tripping and stumbling to follow me. I could feel my skin go numb, I couldn't feel anything anymore, the painful searing cold that had crawled into my boots was gone. I looked down and saw Ren staring up at me with his frozen eyes. I saw a figure, a half cylinder of sorts, feeling my strength return to me I ran towards it, ran so fast I nearly dropped Ren... I went through a little rag covering and found myself staring at a family of five, a husband and wife and three little children, two girls and one boy, all huddled around a warm fire, and they stared back. I felt my legs give out and I couldn't remember much besides being warm, unnaturally warm. I woke up on a pile of fur next to the fire, Ren was laying beside me, the frost had melted from him but his skin remained pale blue. I got up and looked outside," continued Razai. A small group of crewmen and soldiers had gathered around him, listening to his story.

"The sun was little more than a blurry blotch on the horizon, red and orange smothered the distant sky while the blackness spilled across past the house I stayed in, igloo, I think they called it. I looked on the ground, a trail of corpses, eight or more perhaps had littered the ground, sparse from each other, the closest was only perhaps ten or more feet away...heed me boy, you have no business being in the Poles, don't forget what I've told you."

June and the surrounding men stared at the recounting Prince, he was no staring into the water as if something else was staring back at him. His reflection seemed to be mutilated, his dead eye's blackness blended in with the dark waters, making his face seem split almost in half. "Hey…" said a voice. His daydreaming was broken. "Yes?" he answered quietly. He looked up to see June and the rest of his men staring at him, some with looks of fear, concern, and pity. "It's only a story, we're not even landing on the Poles. We're just going to Frostspire," he said. Speaking of Frostspire. The ship had approached a large iceberg with a tall spire of dull metal jutting out of it, built into the hunk of ice with several steel cables anchoring itself within the water, holding the iceberg in place to the ocean floor, he guessed they used harpoons to latch itself. An old, discolored Fire Nation flag drifted lazily in the shearing breeze. He studied the outpost, it was little more than a thin tower of metal, a thick rod rose from the water adjacent to the iceberg, he supposed it was to tie ships without anchors. He saw a few red colored men leave the tower, watching his massive ship approach the outpost, no doubt they were the first Fire Navy ship they've seen in quite some time.

He turned to June, "We're weighing anchor here, we'll take the skiff," he said before walking at a brisk pace into his ship.


	12. Chapter 12

" _Razai?" said a small, almost nervous voice. He opened his eyes to see his sister standing in the doorway, light from the corridor turned her into a shadowy silhouette. He felt his heartbeat accelerate, he felt fresh blood surge through his veins, his face, even in the darkness, grew red with anxiety and anticipation. They hadn't spoken much since their tryst almost two months earlier. He felt his throat seize when he thought of what they had done, nervousness and dread were all he could think of when around her, and he hated himself for feeling that way. They were twins, they shared the same blood, he could almost see a physical bond between them, like a thin wisp of grey swirling wind that bound them together._

 _He had heard the stories his mother had told him and her favored nurses, 'When I gave birth to them, I was so afraid of what their father might make of them. Azula was the first, she was so small, pale, fragile and innocent, big beautiful golden eyes, she was such an angel that I completely forgot the pain that I had suffered to bring her into the world. When they pulled her from me, I felt something else pulling back almost. I didn't even notice the little fat fingers wrapped around her ankle, that small, pink, plump little hand that clung to her when she was being pulled, as if he would die if he ever let go. Neither of them had cried until one of my midwives released Razai's hand from Azula, they didn't stop until we brought their hands together. From that day forward, no matter how much Ozai could have drilled into them, I knew they would always have each other, and that comforted me," he couldn't help but feel his shoulders shake as he held back his tears._

" _What?" was all he could manage to say, the words came out little more than a whisper. Azula rubbed her forearm with discomfort. "I want to talk about what we did together," she said. She walked hesitantly into his room; his lithe form was wrapped in a thin silken sheet, she could see his torso rise and fall with heavy breathing. He did nothing to stop her approach, she glided towards his bed and sat next to his resting body, a hand on his shoulder._

 _He felt his heart leap when her smooth fingers lightly scraped against his own pale, creamy skin, her skin all the same. He kept his head turned away from her, despite the overwhelming attraction between the two, it was like a mental tug at his head, a connection that would always remind them that they were bonded, something that transcended the physical aspect of the world. Despite his bond with her, he would give her nothing to hold him by. "What we did was sexual, and family shouldn't do that," he said spitefully yet hesitated as he thought on it, perhaps he didn't even believe that himself. He could feel her nails slightly dig into his exposed shoulder with irritation. "Is that what they taught you at school? That a brother and sister shouldn't be that close? That what we shared was unnatural?" she said, losing patience. He only grunted. He wanted so bad to give in and accept her but he felt a distant, competitive part of him that forbade him from giving in to her._

 _He felt her grip loosen and found her nails trailing along his skin pleasantly, he felt a bit of his internal conflict settle with her soothing touch. "What we did..." she hesitated, and lightly stroked her brother's cheek. "What we did was beautiful to me, and I hope it was to you. We came into this world, seconds apart from each other, we shared the womb together, took care of each other...We still take care of each other," she said softly as she ran her fingers through her brother's long black hair, the same hair she had._

 _He felt tears well in his eyes as he thought of her. Why was he being so unreasonable? Why did he feel these societal views on sibling relationships affect him so? Perhaps it was his school, he was popular at school. He had dozens of friends, and a small circle of very close friends, despite his father's protests. Much to his uncomfortability, he had heard them discuss the practice of incest in the early years of Fire Nation royalty and how disgusting it had been. They were outside, walking along the private gardens outside the Palace when the conversation had been brought up, and he was quiet until they went home. He had even heard the discussion be brought up by his teacher, he mentioned the few offspring of Fire Lords who had wed close family members and how they grew disfigured, mentally disabled with shortened lifespans and that terrified him._

" _We're the same blood, we're not supposed to do things like we did, do you know the danger of it?" he said quietly. She gripped him by his hair, fairly hard and jerked his head around to look at her. Her hair was let loose behind her shoulders, beautiful, shiny, silky black hair licked her upper back. Her eyes, by Agni her eyes. They were glowing, with overwhelming warmth and attraction, the color was like pools of molten gold, tiny splotches of black swirled. "Then why do we feel the way we do? If it's unnatural why does it feel so right?" she asked fiercely, staring into the same golden eyes that belonged to her brother. "Why do I feel like I will never be happy unless I have you?" she asked._

" _I-I" he started but was interrupted when her plump, soft lips smothered his own, he couldn't keep control and found himself lost in his sister's embrace. Her warm lips salivated, as did his own and their fluids intermingled, becoming one. Their tongues wrapped around each other, exploring their teeth, cheeks and other moist parts. His heart was beating abnormally fast, and so was her's. Their chests weren't even near and yet he could hear and feel her beating heart, pumping her life's blood throughout her body. They soon found it hard to breathe and broke off their kiss, thick saliva dripped and was drawn out in light strings from each other's lips, their breath came in pants._

" _I need to be with you, Razai. We're just two halves..I-I. I will only ever be complete when you are with me, inside me." She was speaking desperately, as if she would die if...if they ever left one another. He could feel the salty tears threaten to drip from his eyes, not out of sadness, but just the fact that anyone could care so much about him, and he to her. She was just as much Razai as he was Azula, one and the same. He nodded anxiously, sweat dribbled down his forehead. She crawled on top of him, her intimacy stroked his own hardening length. His uncertainty that had ridden him their first time was replaced with urgency and indescribable passion, he longed to be inside her. She was still draped in her red nightgown, not bothering to remove it._

" _D-do it, now!" he felt himself urging, his voice rising slightly with the unbearable anticipation. She let out a beastial growl that crawled from her throat as she lowered herself onto his manhood, digging her nails into her brother's shoulders. He felt an indescribable pleasure grow in his body, not like the one he experienced before. This feeling ascended the world in which they lived in. When he entered her, he could almost see the two split souls become one. The moist, warmness that engulfed him encouraged him to want more, he wanted to be fully inside of her, not just his length, and yet this was all they could do. Her whimpers of pleasure seethed through gritted teeth as she slid up and down his hardened erection. It wasn't sexual, not to them. It was a way to connect to one another, feel each other's feelings, see what the other saw, hear what the other heard, in that way they could become one. He felt their invisible fires kiss and engulf each other, colors of all kinds sprouted from the silent inferno that engulfed their room, their sweat, their essence, mixed and evaporated as the heat spiked. He felt himself burst, the most precious of his fluids leapt from his pulsating erection and planted itself deep inside of her, he was a part of her now, forever._

 _She could feel his warmness tingling and rushing deep inside her, she could do nothing but collapse on top of him, their tears and sweat mixed as she pressed her forehead against his, and continued to pump, trying to draw more of his precious seed out. She found him fatigued and she was grinding helplessly against his flaccid organ, desperate for more of his seed. She had her eyes closed, resting against her twin who had begun to stroke her thick raven hair, his eyes were shut as well. Intense bliss followed as they fell asleep in each other's embrace, the same person in different bodies._

Azula snapped awake, her sleeping robe stuck to her sweaty body, her hair was strewn about, a large black mass strung about her head. Her room was pitch black; lighting her hand with azure flames that illuminated the chamber, including the chandelier hanging from the ceiling. She sent a blast of fire into the strung up candles, the flames burned blue initially but settled into a familiar orange. She slid from her bed and crept to the door, pushing it slightly ajar, revealing the faintly illuminated corridor made of red marble, solid gold ran along the outline of the walls and ceiling.

She could only assume it was dawn; her dreams went on until sunrise, all firebenders rise with the sun, and she was grateful she didn't sleep in. She stroked her forehead and walked towards the bathroom; she felt an uncomfortable sensation in her womanhood, an ache of some sorts that spiked in intensity as she took each step. She found herself staring into the mirror, she wore a thin silk nightgown, the same one she wore when her brother entered her, _truly_ entered her. She wasn't sure how she felt about everything. Razai wasn't gone, he would come back, yet she felt some sense of betrayal when she found him in the depths of the Ba Sing Se dungeons, brought him back from the brink of death, and then decides to leave.

Agni, she was acting like a child. _You are a child_ a faint voice whispered to her. No, she wasn't a child, she was the daughter of Ozai, the Fire Lord; her childhood ended the moment she was born. She summoned Palace servants and had her bath drawn and filled with salts, spices and oils. She stuck a toe in, the water was cold. With a deep inhale, the water turned almost scalding hot, steam rushed into the air as she lowered herself into the bath, he pale complexity vanished into the bubbly water.

She allowed herself a few minutes of peace, scrubbing herself with a bar of pearl-like soap. Wherever she ran the bar, small groups of suds would stay and soak into her skin, releasing any dirt from her pores and cleansing any impurities she may have had. She called for two servants, two girls with long black hair entered the room quietly and wrung her hair, water fell from the damp, clingy and tangled mass of black. She closed her eyes and felt her mind wander. The occasional tug from the servants kept her awake, it was peaceful, she enjoyed having her hair combed, just like how Razai used to. Another tug. She would also comb his hair which he liked to keep the same length as her's, it reminded them that they belonged to each other. Another tug. She felt her womanhood pulsate slightly, almost like a throb of nostalgia when she thought of him. Another tug, much stronger. Her eyes flew open and found one of her hands dipped below the water, exploring her soaked folds. She drew her hand back, servants were still here.

She felt tears pool in her eyes as she thought of her brother, he had been gone for almost four weeks and she couldn't do anything but think of him when she wasn't preoccupied with her training or tormenting Zuko. _Zuko_. She felt a sense of relief whenever she thought of Zuko, though she would never tell him, she wouldn't give him that pleasure. She had always loved Zuko, even if she convinced herself that she didn't, it was a feeling that could never be shattered or cut. He looked so much like Razai, and even herself, to an extent. His scar made him different, more masculine, he was taller and more muscular.

Her day dreaming broke when the servants told her her bathing was done. She stood up, warm water dripping from her limbs, she felt a chill as the water evaporated from her gleaming skin. She tied her hair up in her traditional topknot and dressed in a rather thick red and gold robe then left her room. She wandered for perhaps half an hour until she found herself outside of Zuko's room, light escaped from beneath the door. She had thought to knock but instead simply walked in, the room was illuminated but empty. She examined his bed, the sheets were thrown about haphazardly and drooped off the side, perhaps she wasn't the only one having nightmares.

She saw light originating from her brother's bathroom and decided to sit on a red plush couch near the door, waiting for him. She sat for at least ten minutes before the bathroom door opened, Zuko dressed in a bathrobe emerged. She could see the visible twist of disgust and surprise in his face when he found her sitting on the couch, legs stretched. "What do you want, Azula?" he asked with audible irritation in his voice. She felt her lips curl at his displeasure despite her recent mood. "Why must I always want something, my dear brother? Can I not just enjoy your company?" she asked sardonically. He scowled, his crusted scar crunched against his face, forming small wave-like ripples along the pink and dull red of his wound.

"Considering I just woke up, I'd like some time to myself," he said while staring at nothing in particular.

"You're a prince of the Fire Nation. You'll never have time to yourself and I'd expect you to know that by now," she said with a slight snap.

He groaned as he sat opposite to her, the plush red leather dipped as his weight pressed down on the couch, holding his fingers to his eyes. "The Ji's have been causing issues again. Refusing to lend their levies to War Minister Qin, deeming the stability of the former Earth Kingdom to be beneath their concern," he said. Azula raised an eyebrow. She was surprised; before his banishment Zuko had not paid politics much mind. "I wouldn't expect anything less," she said. The Ji's had been a major family in the Fire Nation for almost three hundred years and have been made so by their sheer wealth, always giving the Fire Lord the right amount of money in exchange for prestige and marriage ties. "Father will have to get involved if they continue to resist," he paused. Azula smirked slightly as she thought of the less than reputable family. "Even if they are Ji's, Qin isn't very popular amongst the families what with his low birth and his rather _demanding_ personality. I probably would have refused too unless I absolutely had to," she said.

"I'm going to work out a compromise and if one can't be reached, I'll have to force them to send soldiers," he said. Azula was fairly impressed, he has been much more responsible than he had been, preferring to sit in the gardens and feed the turtle-ducks as opposed to actually volunteering to help with royal affairs. "I'll go with you, something tells me you won't be able to convey the message as easily as I could," she said before sitting up. Zuko's expression darkened, frowning slightly before he relented and sighed. Zuko had to agree. Few outside of the palace knew of her viciousness and cruelty, but he had. And as much as it bothered him, he was grateful she wasn't needlessly cruel. He would need her. He got to his feet and approached the dark wooden wardrobe, opening the door and spying several different robes all of varying shades of red.

"I suppose I can't stop you," said Zuko while he fished through his wardrobe, looking for robes. He found his normal attire, a dark red robe with blackened aesthetic pauldrons trimmed with gold. Zuko tied his hair back similar to his siblings and looked at himself. he hadn't looked so regal in years and it was odd, he had to adjust to it. Zuko stared at his sister, hoping to convey the message he didn't really want to vocalize, she just stared back, confused and slightly impatient. "I need to change," he said bluntly. She nodded and turned her head towards the wall, lips curled into an evil smile. "I won't peek," she said childishly. His face grew red with embarrassment.

He untied his bathrobes and allowed them to fall to his feet in a pile of gleaming red and pulled his common robes and black chest piece to fall over his head. He huffed and went for the door, his sister following after him. Their padded slippers scuffed against the smooth marble floor before being quickly drowned out by the quick footsteps of a servant. "My Prince and Princess, the Fire Lord requests your presence immediately," he said, slightly out of breath. They both nodded and proceeded down numerous corridors and turned many corners until they finally reached the massive golden doors that preceded the Throne Room, dragons climbed up the center of both doors, breathing golden fire upwards.

Two imperial firebenders pushed the massive doors open, a metallic groan being emitted. They ignored the wave of heat which hit them, striding towards the tall wall of flame that concealed the Fire Lord, leaving only his darkened silhouette. They fell to their knees, foreheads touching the ground with their arms extended, awaiting his permission. A long silence ensued as the Fire Lord examined his children. "Rise," he said quietly, his baritone voice slicing the air despite his calm tone.

"My children, I have not much time to waste so I will be quick. Zuko, you may carry on with what you planned to do regarding the Ji's, in all haste I must ask. Azula, as you know, Razai has left for the former Earth Kingdom in an effort to stabilize its provinces but I fear that he, as a non-bender, may be undermined in his mission by ambitious underlings that hold respect only to bending, not the royal family, and as such, I am sending you to assist Razai," he said. Azula was perplexed, she was not sure how to feel. She was no doubt excited, but also wary and anxious about meeting her brother once more. Had he changed? Probably not, it's only been a few weeks since he left. Has he made progress? Again, probably not, she was over thinking this, Agni, she felt like a little girl anxious to see her first love.

 _Do you think he's found someone else?_ The voice interrupted her thoughts, she could feel her heart constrict in her chest when she repeated the words in his mind. No, he wouldn't find someone else, he was hers and no one else's, she would kill anyone who would take him. "Azula?" said a questioning voice that snapped her back into reality. "I-I, yes, father, I will do as you say," she said, blundering slightly. She had felt a slight sweat dripping down her forehead and her heart was beating fairly fast. "You will leave at dawn tomorrow," he said, peering through the flames onto his child. She nodded in compliance and he sent them away.

She retreated to her mind for the majority of their walk from the Throne Room, Zuko looking over occasionally to see her deep in thought, her brow slightly furrowed as she frowned. "I suppose you'll be needing a ship," Zuko said. He was surprised even by his own words, he had never been decent to Azula. That thought could have slammed into him like a brick. She was not exactly the nicest a sibling could be but she was better than he made her out out to be. Though she was teasing at the time, she _had_ warned him of father's intent to kill him. That thought made him sick to his stomach. Ozai wasn't a horrible father per se, family meant a lot to him, in name at least, but you couldn't disobey the Fire Lord's direct orders.

Azula escaped from her prying thoughts and looked at Zuko with a mocking smirk. "I can get my own ship, Zuzu, but I appreciate your offer," she said. He shrugged with indifference, but cringed slightly when he heard her nickname. He held the name in high regard as a child, when both Azula and Razai had called him that affectionately, but found it irritating with age. He watched her walk away quickly, robes fluttering behind her.

She rounded the corner and practically barged into her room, interrupting the servants who had been cleaning her room. "Out," she said, voice low and filled with malice. They took very quick and sloppy bows and ran from her room. All the servants had heard rumors of Azula's sick and cruel ways of dispatching servants that displeased her, she was actually sorry that one of them hadn't stayed and questioned her. She didn't know why this was upsetting her, emotions flowed through her, many she hadn't felt since she was with Razai; she would sleep on it, no, she couldn't sleep on it. She needed to get her ship and prepare to leave tomorrow, where was Razai anyhow? Wait, he was going north last time she had heard, what was north? His duties were to the former Earth Kingdom, what would be north?

The Towers of Boreal, what else. But which one? Perhaps the spires of Frost or Pale, or maybe Icewatch or the Gale? Agni, this could have started out easier, would she have to check every single tower? They were spread out a good hundred miles apart to cover the entire poles. No matter, she would need a fast ship, she wouldn't be able to use her barge as she had previously. Maybe she would take Zuko up on his offer of a ship after all.


End file.
